Runs In The Family
by CanadianMaple
Summary: Leo Valdez, is struggling to pull through his quirky junior year of high school. But with things like a super creepy stalker, the most amazing best friend in the world, and a hot new guy named Jason, Leo isn't exactly sure how he's going to manage. At least, he always has his gay parents, Percy and Nico, to rely on.
1. Meet the Parents

Leo Valdez was eight years old when he was adopted.

Not like he remembered it.

He only remembered crying, and screaming and hands holding his own. Leo liked to think this was his most favorite memory, although tragic that he didn't remember it. At age eight, he became the only son to the lovely couple of Nico Di Angelo and Percy Jackson. Leo's parents adored him, and as screwed up the family was, Leo could honestly say that it would be the best family he lived with.

Currently at this moment, however, Leo would say otherwise.

"Well? Do you have something to say for yourself?" Leo's Papa, Nico, said. Nico was a rather strict father whose intentions were sometimes concerning, but he did mean well. Mostly.

Leo's head remained down, and his ear buds drooped, their continuous music playing an eternal tune known as _Fall Out Boy_. Leo really like Fall Out Boy.

"Are you even listening to me!? Leo!" Nico scowled and in one smooth moment, Leo's ear buds were swiped away from his ears.

"Hey! I was listening to that!" Leo yelled, snatching the listening devices back. They tangled around his fingers pathetically and Nico pinched the bridge of his nose,

"Leo. Do you have something to say about what happened earlier in school, why I received a call from the principal requesting for you to be taken home?"

Leo grinned at the thought of what happened earlier. It was a harmless prank. Who knew that turning on the fire alarm was against school policy? Leo did of course, but that's not the point.

"I may or may have not turned on the fire alarm? I swear, I wasn't even there! The old crone just has something against me! How did she even become principal anyway?" Leo protested and Nico sighed.

"You're grounded. Hand over the phone."

Leo whined loudly, pulling out his secret weapon. The puppy dog eyes. "But paaaaapaaaaaa!"

Nico stared down at him and Leo grumbled, pulling out his phone from his pocket. Dang it, wrong move activated on the wrong parent.

Nico crossed his arms and frowned disapprovingly at Leo. His own phone vibrated in the kitchen and Nico hoped that the rest of this exchange wouldn't last too long. Fortunately, Leo has been in this grounded situation many, many, many times before and knew the next part.

"I'm going to my room now. Tell me when dinner is ready." Leo mumbled and scrambled out of the living room.

Nico sighed and shook his head at the teenager. He didn't remember being that troublesome at sixteen. Which was a lie, since at sixteen, Nico switched from his emo phase to his punk rebellious phase. Nico prayed to every god out there that Leo would never become punk and/or rebellious. He didn't need the piercings or dyed hair.

Nico huffed out at his little reminiscence and hurried to answer his buzzing phone.

 **Persassy:** baaaaaaaaaabe

Nico sighed, and began pulling out pots to prepare a suitable dinner for his family. Percy was a terrible cook (but his baking skills were simply extraordinary), and while Leo could cook a few meals, Nico wasn't looking for some cheap Ramen noodles.

 **Persassy:** baaaaaaaaaaabe

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** What Percy?

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** And what did I tell you about changing my chat name?

 **Persassy:** but baaaaby that suits you so much better

 **Persassy:** i got a call at work did something happen

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** You should talk to Leo about it. He is as troubling as you were when you were 16.

 **Persassy:** what do you mean troubling i think you mean wonderful

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Of course you still act like you are 16. You type like a 16 year old too.

 **Persassy:** shuuuuuush

 **Persassy:** what happened though

 **Persassy:** is he expelled yet

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** No.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Instead he is suspended from school for the next week.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** He pulled the fire alarm in the middle of his lunch period.

 **Persassy:** ha

 **Persassy:** what was his sentence

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** I took his cell. I am changing the Netflix password, and his laptop charger is under our bed.

 **Persassy:** you monster

 **Persassy:** still love you babes 3

 **Persassy:** its like beauty and the beast

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Do not mention that Disney movie.

 **Persassy:** too late XP

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Why have I married a kid? Is this what pedophilia is?

 **Persassy:** babe no

 **Persassy:** babe stop

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Aren't you at work right now? Shouldn't you be working?

 **Persassy:** just grading tests

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Then finish and drive home when you're done.

 **Persassy:** i love my lil baby six year olds

 **Persassy:** theyre so cute and tiny

 **Persassy:** we should adopt more kids love

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** NO.

* * *

Leo kicked a rock and it skittered on the road. His sneakers were covered with doodles of nuts, bolts, and tiny screwdrivers, and their white laces licked the sidewalk, dirtying them even more. Leo's jog was still and music flowed from his ears to his brains, steps bouncing to every drum and guitar rift.

Leo wasn't sure what happened first, his epic face plant or seeing his best friend on a date. Whatever happened, Leo was wincing as Piper pressed against his wounds. Next to Piper was an amused yet concerned blond, who was holding Leo's backpack. The red bag's zippers tinkled annoyingly.

Piper McLean has been Leo's best friend since the beginning of time. Leo knew the girl since _before_ he got adopted by his current parents, which was funny because he could remember her but not his own adoption. Besides from few memories of his family (his _real_ family), Piper was the only thing from his childhood that Leo could like you can forget her. Not like you _could_ forget her.

Piper was a special friend, who was currently going through a weird phase where she listens to Indie music, became a vegetarian, then dyed half of her hair green. The green dye is faint now, and was replaced with rainbow feathers and choppy cuts.

But who was that strange blonde that Leo was definitely unacquainted with? And was Piper on a date with him?

"Pipes. Who that?"

Piper felt the area around Leo's left eye and Leo winced.

"Jason. He's my boyfriend? Friend? Not sure." Piper mumbled and leaned out of Leo's face.

Leo snickered. "You think? Well if he's not taken, I'll take him off your hands, man."

Piper rolled her eyes before punching Leo's arm. "No way. He's too hot for you."

Leo grinned and flattened his palms on his chest. His hands slid slowly down his body sexually, and wiggled his eyebrows at Piper, who raised one of her own eyebrows. "No one can handle my own hotness _chica_. I'm the one whose too hot for him." Leo said and Piper laughed.

"Sure thing Leo."

Piper turned towards the blonde, who was observing Leo's slightly bruised face. Leo scrunched up his nose and bought up a hand to it. His nose had a scratch right on the bridge of his nose. Leo had band-aids in his bag, if only the blonde would give him back his bag...

"Jason. This is Leo, my idiot best friend. I'm so sorry that this trip was ruined. Uh, and Leo is too. Probably." Piper rambled, glancing between the two boys.

Jason shook his head, smiling softly. "No problem. You can show me around town on another day, I'm cool with that. Nice meeting you Leo."

Leo blinked before extending out a fist and a grin. They bumped fists and Leo mentally dubbed Jason as 'cool-blonde-sorta-dating-sorta-not-dating-my-best-friend'. Seemed like an appropriate title.

Leo asked for his bag and shuffled through it to find the pack of band-aids. Piper and Jason started to talk in hushed tones, when finally Leo found it.

One cartoon T-Rex dinosaur band-aid later and Leo was feeling pretty macho and manly and ready to take on the world.

"I'll see you at school when my time is done in two days, man. Or maybe not, depending on how Papa is, I guess." Leo said, flattening out his clothes.

Piper shrugged and bent down to tie her shoes. "I still can't believe you got suspended during the first week of school. On the first day of school. That's a new record for you." Piper's hair shrouded her face and Jason hummed in agreement.

Leo stuck out his tongue and his middle finger, glad that Piper couldn't see, and Jason laughed. Piper's head bounced up questioningly, and she waved at Leo. "See you bro. I'll text you details about, you know," Piper's hands waved around the air frantically," what's going on."

Leo nodded appreciatively and plugged in an ear bud. "Alright _chica_ , see you later."

When Leo got home, his dad was there instead of his papa. Percy was sitting on the porch swing, reading something on his tablet.

"Hey Dad." Leo said, plopping down next to his father. Leo's bag was thrown carelessly on to the floor with a _thump_. Percy ignored it and continued reading.

"Did you know that this article says that kids who cause problems for their parents go to hell?" Percy inquired and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Of course. See you and Papa there." Leo said, shaking his head and Percy laughed.

"Don't let your father hear that."

"Never do."

They sat in silence and Leo began kicking off the swing. Percy folded his legs underneath him comfortably and began talking again.

"You know you can't be getting into trouble like this again. Don't you want to go to a nice college?" Percy huffed, turning off his tablet. He placed the device on the swing in between Leo and himself.

Leo left the question unanswered and sighed.

Percy sighed and smiled. Leo was such a kid sometimes, so childish.

Percy ruffled Leo's hair and Leo scowled. It took nearly ten minutes to achieve it's messy-yet-hot-and-effortless look, and his dad just had to ruin it. Percy smiled fondly as Leo tried to salvage the do, before giving up.

"I heard about the suspension."

Leo's face scrunched up before kicking the swing again. It creaked when it swung far back, and Percy lifted his tablet before it could fall off and crack.

"Sorry." Leo muttered.

Percy stood up and stuck his hand out to stop the porch swing. Leo looked up to his father and then looked down at the ground.

"Just don't do it again, okay? Would hate for this to get in your way for you to get into MIT. I want an honor kid, you know? One to get into a great college." Percy said, and opened the front door.

"I didn't like that principal anyway. Gaia, Gaea, whatever her name was. God I hated her." Percy called out grinning, before sliding into the house.

Leo just smirked, acknowledging his fathers words. Leo did want to go to MIT, that damn nationally high ranked school for nerds like himself. College was sort of a bad topic when it came to his father, Percy.

Percy's tragic story was like his own mother, Sally's. After getting remarried to Percy's current step-father, Sally shortly fell ill, causing Percy to quit his last year of high school and work constantly. When the hospital bill came back, Percy spent all his savings on his mother. After Sally got back on her feet, Percy went to night school to finish getting his diploma. After graduating, Percy was accepted to Brown. Unfortunately, he wasn't on scholarship. Leo's father went to a community college instead.

It was quit ironic that Leo's other parent, Nico, went to Harvard. Nico didn't have to worry about finances, growing up. Percy, however, did.

Leo hummed as he walked into the house. He passed by the kitchen, where Percy was singing while cooking. Leo made a mental note to order a pizza, if the house was still intact. Nico probably would appreciate the pizza then the burnt ashes he would've been served by Percy.

Leo logged into his laptop that was sitting on the coffee table in the den. He hasn't really used it in the past week, under his grounding. Well technically, his father didn't say he couldn't use it.

Huh, 19%. Leo would have to find his charger sooner or later.

Leo figured it was somewhere in his messy room, and he'll find it later. 19% gives him enough time to watch a bit of that newly uploaded episode of that show he was watching on Netflix.

 _User name and/or password invalid. Please try again._

Oh hell no. Only one person could be cruel enough to do this. First the charger, now the Netflix? And, wait- is that the Wi-Fi password changed too?

 _ **"PAPA!"**_

This was how Leo learned not to get suspended on the first day of high school during his junior year.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 _ **chica-**_ **girl (some people use _nina_ though {the second n of _nina_ has the little squiggly on top})**

 **A/N: So I may or may have not been extremely lazy.**

 **May or may have not.**

 **Alright so anyway my little pumpkins, one day I just had a brilliant idea to have _some_ kind of family in this particular fandom. And BAM Percy, Leo, Nico: _PLN_** ** _shhh_ don't worry this was definitely a wonderful idea don't judge my issues**

 **More to Come, Don't worry I feel in love with the adorkable PLN family (although I will come up with a better name).**

 **ALSO, if you want to see any Leo pairings, please share.  
**

* * *

 **Edit: Finally updated with less mistakes ;)**


	2. Metal Mouth and Pizza Face

"Welcome back dork." Piper said, punching Leo in the arm.

Leo beamed and punched her back. "Glad to be welcomed to hell."

Piper rolled her eyes and she struggled to turn the locker combination. Beside her, Leo managed to open his locker with ease. Piper snorted in frustration and flicked the dial one more time.

"Thank God we have lockers right next to each other- _FUCK_! How'd you even open yours?" Piper banged the locker with her fist, and her many bracelets jingled. Piper chose to go with a classy look of vest and button down and gold bracelets with white jeans. Leo went the totally right way and wore sweatpants and a hoodie with holes at the thumbs. There was obviously no comparison on who was a better fashionista.

"Let me help." A voice came in and Piper laughed. When Leo looked up his eyes met with tall blonde and muscles.

"Why, Jason, my prince in shining armor, what ever can you do for a little peasant like myself?" Piper said, and the two laughed as if it was an inside joke. Which made Leo uncomfortable because _he_ should be the one with inside jokes with Piper.

Jason opened the locker.

"Hi Leo, right? Met when you-"

"Face-planted in front of you?" Leo offered and stared at his schedule. First class of the day, French. He would've taken Spanish for the easy A, considering he spoke Spanish fluently. But alas, Nico wanted his son to be multilingual rather then bilingual. Although, it would've made more sense if Leo took Italian, seeing as how his father was fluent in it. Maybe the fact that the rest of his family spoke more than one language would get into Percy's head to learn something other then English.

"Yeah." Jason chuckled and Piper linked arms with him. Guess they were a thing, after all. So much for Piper updating Leo.

Leo turned away, losing himself in the ongoing traffic flow of the hallway. He was momentarily pissed at his best friend for the not-update. It wasn't much of a problem because he knew that it would blow over by his next class. Which was Calculus (hey, he does want to get into MIT even if it took crappy math classes).

Room 15A was French. Room 24 was Calculus.

It was like a godsend to have his first two classes so close to each other. For the first time in eternity, Leo might actually not be late. To French and Calculus at least. Frankly, Room 15A was also literally 4 lockers down from his own. The added bonus? It was also his homeroom.

When Leo walked into the French class, the first thing he noticed was the assigned seating on the chart hanging on the board.

"Uggggh, why does my life have to be so hard? Why can't I have nice teachers who do nice things like have free seating choices? There should be a meeting on this. I, Leo Valdez, will do my hardest to get the greatly earned free seating we all deserve!" Leo announced to the few students who were sitting in their seats, milling around the classroom.

He made his way to his seat and was pleasantly surprised by two people sitting at the table for four already.

There was a big, sort of frightening, Chinese teenager sitting in one chair. Leo could admire another guy's muscles and still feel straight but those were just- wow. And then Leo's eyes reached his face and it was the cutest thing ever. Like the Asian teens hormones and testosterone was on steroids from the neck down, and from neck up, it was pure babyish cuteness.

Next to the boy (Man? His body read man, but his face read boy) was a little short mocha curly haired girl. Her hair was so curly and soft looking Leo just wanted to touch it. A lot.

"'Sup people, the Leo-ster has join this party of two to make a fun party of three." Leo said, grinning from ear to ear. Curly Hair smothered a tiny giggle with her hand, and Man Boy just rolled his eyes.

Leo striked up a conversation with Curly Hair (whose name he learned as to be Hazel), much to Man Boy's annoyance. The two were in the middle of talking about hair products, when the teacher clapped her hands to gather everyone attention. The late bell rang and everyone in the class settled down.

The final table mate at Leo's table still wasn't there.

"Juniper's out sick." Hazel explained, biting her lip.

"Well that's too bad. If she's at least half as pretty as you, you both just might blind me with beauty. Leo flirted back, and Hazel giggled.

The teacher clapped again before smiling. "Why, _bonjour mes beaux enfants! Je m'apelle Madame_ Acidalia, _ou Madame_ Aphrodite. I am quite wonderful at l'amour!" The teacher exclaimed happily.

Leo snickered to himself. He knew who she was. The darling belle of a teacher, was in fact Piper's mother. Leo practically knew the lady since the day he was born.

"Oh, _bonjour monsieur_ Valdez! Pleased to have you in my class this year. I expect you would know much French, _non_?" Madame Acidalia said, before turning to write some simple greeting on the chalkboard.

Great. Now Leo _had_ to do good, because of these expectations. Wonderful. Leo blamed it on his good charm on the ladies. Even if they were more than twice his age.

" _Frank, as-tu un crayon? Je perdais mon propre."_ Hazel asked, and Leo leaned in to listen to their conversation. Did Hazel speak fluent French? Ah, she must be there for the easy A then. But who was Frank?

Man Boy passed her a pencil. Man Boy must be Frank.

" _Pourquoi ne pas simplement demander a votre petit ami? Vous semblez etre intresse a lui beaucoup_." Frank said, rolling his eyes and Hazel gasped. Oh so they were going to speak French now? Leo understood French well enough.

" _I barely know him! How could you say that Frank?"_ Hazel spoke and poked Franks cheek. Frank smiled.

" _Yeah I know. Sorry."_ Frank whispered back and Leo strained to divide his attention between their conversation and Madame Acidilia's French verbs.

It was cute seeing the two converse in french as if Leo couldn't understand them. As long as they're not talking crap about him, he was fine.

French was nice and his table mates were nice.

 _"I hope you realize I learned French at a young age because of my best friend."_ Leo announced, standing up in an epic Superman pose, fists at hips.

Hazel stared wide-eyed and Frank turned into a red mess.

"Monsier Valdez! Please sit down! I expected better from you!" Madame Acidilia cried, causing the rest of the class to stare at him. "I didn't want to do this, after you missed my class for a week, but I must give you detention."

 _"FUCK!"_

 _"MONSIEUR VALDEZ!"_

* * *

Somehow, Leo found himself in Calculus right next to Jason.

"Ugh, I would've taken Algebra II. In fact, I'm going to ask for a changing of classes. Like all my classes. How about you? Join me?" Leo groaned and banged his head on the desk.

Jason snickered. "I have P.E. next class. You?"

Leo muttered into his desk. "Of course."

Jason reached over to ruffle Leo's curly hair and Leo gasped, head bouncing up.

"How could you! I thought we were friends! Don't mess with the do." Leo said, trying to achieve his hairstyle again. Jason just laughed and messed up his hair even more. It reminded Leo of Percy when he was feeling extra playful.

"Okay, _hombre_ , now how do you do this?" Leo asked leaning over to look at Jason's worksheet. The smart blonde was up to question 15 out of 20. Leo was up to question 1.

"Damn, how did you do that in _seven_ minutes?" Leo let out a low whistle and Jason answered the next question.

"I'm good at math." In all honesty, Leo was amazing in math. He joined the matheletes in middle school and won a few competitions. Of course joining the mathletes wasn't _cool_ and Leo got enough verbal abuse from Piper.

"Of course you are, you're probably good at everything." Leo commented and stared at the numbers on the page. It wasn't even Calculus, it was a sheet from the Algebra class to 'jog' their memories. It didn't matter because the variables swam across the page anyway. Variables were stupid anyway.

Leo groaned as he watched Jason answer another question, and he crumpled up his own paper. Throwing it across the classroom, he hoped to at least make it.

He didn't make it.

"MR. VALDEZ!"

"ARE YOU _SHITTING ME_? HOW DID YOU _EVEN SEE THAT_?"

"MR. VALDEZ! DETENTION!"

* * *

Piper laughed.

"Only you would manage to get detention twice after serving suspension. Only you, Leo."

Leo groaned. "Papa's going to kill me. He's going to skin me and make me into yummy pasta. I hope you like Leo pasta."

Jason placed a reassuring hand on Leo's back. "It's not like you can get detention in gym. All you have to do is run." The blue eyed boy turned to Piper. "Pasta?"

Piper shrugged. "His pops is Italian. Angelo is a really nice guy though."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Sure, that's what you think! He's like the devil, himself! In nice suits and Italian shoes."

"The devil does wear Prada." Jason joked and Leo whined.

"Alright cupcakes! Stretch for three minutes and take a lap around. Lets go!" Coach Hedge screamed into his megaphone.

Leo reached down to touch his toes. "Why do I always have Hedge as my P.E. teacher? Can't a guy be shown some mercy?"

"VALDEZ! Move your skinny legs! You want mercy? Alright, cupcakes run a mile! Thank Valdez for that!"

The class shot daggers at Leo, who complained as he began jogging.

Piper punched him in the gut lightly. "Seriously?"

Leo huffed and Jason raised an eyebrow. Piper sure can hit hard for someone who hardly works out.

"Fucking Hedge and his shitty running." Leo muttered, running his hand through tangled hair.

"I HEARD THAT VALDEZ! DETENTION!"

" _ARE YOU_ \- mmph!" Leo's mouth was covered by Jason's pale hand.

"Don't want anymore detentions now, do you?" Jason winked and jogged faster.

Piper ran up to catch up with him, leaving Leo behind. He wasn't exactly in the back of the class of running teenagers, but he was the only one running alone. Well, except for that blond kid no one really liked. But he didn't count, seeing as he didn't really have any friends.

Leo sighed and ran faster, passing another lap.

* * *

Detention was amazing.

By the time Leo actually managed to get to it, he already had enough detentions to last him the week. Although honestly, most of them were for cursing. Not as if that would stop Leo from using the beautiful and expressive English he learned over the years.

Detention was supposed to be spent with Leo cleaning chalkboards for the next hour and a half under the watchful gaze of a teacher. However, the music teacher left in a hurry after receiving a call from his sister who was in the hospital due to an arrow incident.

Which left Leo alone to clean chalkboards while jamming out to music. No one could see Leo as he strummed air guitars, or mashed out rhythms on imaginary drum sets.

After managing a tiring hour of chalk and music, Leo managed to clean the entire 1st floor and used the rest of his remaining lunch money to buy Cokes and Chocolate. A perfectly balanced diet.

When his time was over, Leo practically flew to his bike and cycled his way home. Once he reached his lovely house, he realized he left his bag at the school, and biked his way back to school. By the time Leo came back home, both his parents cars were parked in the driveway, and the sky was semi-dark for an August night.

"Hello my parental figures." Leo announced, dropping his bag at the front door.

Leo's sea green eyed parent practically materialized by Leo's side.

"Are you okay? How was school? Did you like all your classes? Was the work-" Percy was interrupted by Leo's other father.

"Ahem." Nico was standing in the den's doorway, arms crossed, frown in place.

"There was a call from your school." Percy took this as an opportunity to escape and slid past Nico, into the hallway.

"I swear it was an accident!" Leo pleaded, pouting. Damn it, he had just got off of punishment!

Nico was clearly not amused."All _five_ times." Nico must have just came back from work, because his tie was still tightened, and his suit jacket was in his arms. Which was good in a way. If Leo was seriously in trouble, then Nico would've been home hours ago.

"Yeah! The teachers just seem to hate the Leo charm!" Leo shifted under his father's disapproving gaze.

Well there was a hint of a smile. "You're just like your father." Nico shook his head fondly, and turned around. "You're still grounded. Don't expect to go to that amusement park on Saturday."

Fair enough. Besides, Leo could always go on _Sunday_. Food was half off on Sundays anyway.

Dinner was uneventful. Unless you counted Leo burping, then Percy burping, and the two having a contest an event. Nico just shook his head and reached for more salad. He was used to the two's silly antics. It was fine since both were happy. If his family was happy, then Nico was definitely happy.

After washing the dishes, Nico found himself on the couch with Percy leaning on his chest. In all honesty, the Italian man wanted to sleep for the next month, but Percy insisted they had to see this movie coming on. So there he found himself, cuddling up with Percy, Leo upstairs doing homework (probably not) watching Finding Nemo.

"What if something happens to one of us?" Percy asked, after 5 minutes of the film. His head turned to face Nico, who honestly was falling asleep by the minute.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Nico's voice came out in a gruff whisper, and Percy turned completely around, resting a hand on Nico's chest.

"If something were to happen to us? What would we do with Leo?" Percy's eyes explored Nico's facial expression as it changed from slightly confused to 'hella confused' as Leo would say.

"The other will keep taking care of him. Why is that even a question?" Nico didn't understand what a film about a missing

"Are you worried about Leo running away?"

Percy turned back to face the movie. "He has before with other families."

Nico used his hand to grip Percy's chin and turned his face back to himself. "God, Percy, it's been 8 years. We had him for eight years and-" Percy pressed his lips against Nico's own. When they parted, Percy smiled.

"Thanks. We've done a good job haven't we?"

Nico's hand found it's way in Percy's hair. "Of course."

* * *

 _ **BeautyQueen** started chat with **HotStuffRepairs** at 10:47-_

 **BeautyQueen:** Hey.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what do you want from me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** shouldnt you be spending this time getting sleep

 **HotStuffRepairs:** beauty sleep

 **HotStuffRepairs:** cause you need it

 **BeautyQueen:** Hahaha You're so hilarious I might just hurl.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dont

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you might mess up your sexy teeth

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ah yes i just love how white they are man so lucky

 **BeautyQueen:** Yeah, I know how my teeth turn you on.

 **BeautyQueen:** Whitening can go along way Bubblegum toothpaste.

 **BeautyQueen:** We adults actually use whitening toothpaste.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ill have you know that my teeth are not only white and flawless but also bubblegum fresh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** tastes like a candy store in my mouth which will attract the ladies if you know what i mean

 **BeautyQueen:** It'll attract the children you pedophile.

 **BeautyQueen:** So sorry about your bad teeth anyway.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** shush

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i know what your going to bring up

 **BeautyQueen:** I know it is a shame that SOME people get braces due to their terrible teeth.

 **BeautyQueen:** Ahem.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why did you bring up the dark ages

 **HotStuffRepairs:** whyyyyyyy :'(

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i only had them for two years

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you wound me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you really do

 **HotStuffRepairs:** at least i didnt have the acne

 **BeautyQueen:** Hey!

 **BeautyQueen:** Alright, fine I deserved that. We can both agree that 7th and 8th grade was a wild puberty time that thankfully ended before high school. Right Metal Mouth?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** shut it pizza face

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so why did you even talk to me in the first place

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh yeah!

 **BeautyQueen:** Jason invited me to go to the movies with him on Saturday then pizza after, and I wanted to know if you want to be my +1

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ...

 **BeautyQueen:** What?

 **BeautyQueen:** You do like Jason right?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** your an idiot

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its a date

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hes asking you out

 **BeautyQueen:** No it's not.

 **BeautyQueen:** He just wanted to know if I would like to see this movie with him

 **BeautyQueen:** Anyway, you're the one whose usually clueless about this type of thing

 **BeautyQueen:** I'm not even sure he's straight

 **BeautyQueen:** Is he straight? I don't know

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh fuck, do I like a gay dude?

 **BeautyQueen:** Not that there's anything wrong with a gay dude, I mean you're gayer than a rainbow Leo

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh wow, am I ranting now?

 **BeautyQueen:** Wow, it's getting really hot all of a sudden.

 **BeautyQueen:** It's not a date.

 **BeautyQueen:** No of course not.

 **BeautyQueen:** Anyway Leo, It's not a date, you're usually wrong about this stuff.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uh huh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its a date

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and im going to ignore that comment on my sexuality

 **BeautyQueen:** It's not a date.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** of course it isn't

 **HotStuffRepairs:** (see look i can do sarcasm too)

 **BeautyQueen:** Har Har Har.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** anyway i cant come anyway but you forgot anyway

 **BeautyQueen:** forgot what

 **HotStuffRepairs** : my bday on saturday

 **BeautyQueen:** Shit. I'll make it up.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** next saturday treat me to the amusement park

 **HotStuffRepairs:** no the water park ive been working out and i want to show off these bad boys

 **BeautyQueen:** No one wants to see your one chest hair Leo.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh i see, pipes got jokes today

 **BeautyQueen:** Yeah bro.

 **BeautyQueen:** Yeah, I'll do it.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** sweet

 **HotStuffRepairs:** anyway its late see you later loser

 **BeautyQueen:** See ya lameo

 _ **HotStuffRepairs** ended chat with **BeautyQueen** at 11:36_

 _ **BeautyQueen** started chat with **HotStuffRepairs** at 3:01_

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh god, you are right, this is a date.

* * *

 **Translations (god damn you French class):**

 _bonjour mes beaux enfants-_ Hello my beautiful children

 _Je m'apelle Madame Acidalia, ou Madame Aphrodite-_ My name is or

 _l'amour-_ the love

 _bonjour monsieur-_ Hello Mr./Sir

 _non-_ no

 _as-tu un crayon? Je perdais mon proper-_ Do you have a pencil? I think I lost my own.

 _Pourquoi ne pas simplement demander a votre petit ami? Vous semblez etre intresse a lui beaucoup-_ Why not just ask your boyfriend? You seem to be interested in him a lot.

 **References:**

 **[1] I called Aphrodite Acidilia. I did this because normally, you don't hear a child named Aphrodite (who would actually-). So according Wikipedia (which is where all my information under references is coming from) another name Aphrodite is known as is Acidilia. I'll switch between the two, don't worry cupcakes, I got your backs.**

 **A/N: Thank you so much for all the reads and fav/follows! They're super encouraging guys! Also, please excuse my translations are limited to Google Translate as I didn't take French, I instead took Spanish for the easy A (and besides the Spanish learnt in classrooms is _Castillian_ Spanish, as in the one spoken in Spain. No one really speaks it here when I talk to my ESL friends). Please comment! Comment are extremely helpful and gives me a basic idea of who's reading and what not. ALSO: I will try to update every week. Right now, my life isn't as hectic as it was, say two weeks ago, but I'll try to update at the constant rate of at least once a week (probably on Fridays.)**

 _ **BUT I JUST UPDATED TODAY BECAUSE OF ALL THESE POSITIVE AND AMAZING FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES! :)**_ **I am trying to work on a chapter for this Friday(I HAD 5 PRE-WRITTEN OUT IN A FOLDER AND THEN I THREW THE FOLDER OUT BY ACCIDENT DAMMIT) because I love you all so much.**

* * *

 **Edit: Mistakes demolished? I believe so :D**


	3. Piper and Nico connect pretty well

Tuesday detention had another kid. Whoop dee do.

This time, they were supposed to only sit and write about what they did to get them in there in the first place.

Peice of cake for Leo.

Leo took a sheet of paper and wrote ' _CURSING'_ in big letters. That's what he did to get into detention, right? At this point he didn't even know, detention was like a second home.

After his 'essay' on what he did, Leo spent the time carving into the desks and staring at the other kid.

The other teenager in question, was scowling, while biting on his eraser. Leo used to bite on his pens until an old foster parent once told him that it would burst and permanetly make your teeth black. Leo was five. But it worked because never again did a pen ever reach Leo's lips.

The scowler had blond hair and blue eyes that were narrowed and glaring at the paper. His clothing looked stuffy with a tie and a tucked in shirt. He was obviously either important or _thought_ he was. Not like Leo could say anything with his T-shirt with a hole at the armpit that read, ' _El Taco- Supreme!'_. Wait, was that- _stuffing_ in his hair?

"Can you stop?" Leo blinked to attention to see the scowling blonde staring at him.

"Stop what?" Leo said, egging the other on.

"Humming. It's annoying. No one told you to hum." Well _excuse me_ McScowlyface. In all honesty, Leo didn't even realize he was humming. He was to busy trying to figure if it was stuffing or not.

"Hmm...nah." And that was how Leo ended up humming _Yankee Doodle_ at the highest decibel he could manage.

The blonde snapped his pencil in half due to fustration. "CAN YOU STOP-"

"Octavian!" Ah, yes, Leo did recall the detention teacher (the music teacher once again) say he was stepping out to talk to another teacher.

McScowlyface somehow managed to scowl even more, "But he's the one who-"

"I heard you. Not him. Shush." The musical teacher winked at Leo who snickered.

McScowlyface did the only thing he could do.

He scowled.

* * *

Piper was waiting for Leo to get out of detention. Behind her sat her black bike and Leo's own red bike. Piper held out a bag deli bought sandwiches and water bottles.

" _Gracias_." Leo commented, accepting a BLT. Piper nodded in response and the two sat on the sidewalk, long limbs stretching out into the road.

"Can I come over? Let's watch a movie." Piper asked, after gulping some H2O.

"Sure." Leo said, not bothering to ask his parents. They both found out a long time ago that Leo needed Piper and vice versa.

They finished the sandwhiches and Piper stuffed their trash into a recycling can outside of the school. Who cares if it probably wasn't all recycling, at least they weren't littering, right?

Piper started up a conversation as the began riding their bikes to Leo's home. It was a weird conversation that started with, "Oh god, I hate that History teacher, do you have her, Leo?" and ended with, "What are you _talking_ about? Demons have abs. _Abs_ , Piper."

They threw their bikes into the driveway, which had the extra cars that were never used. Leo liked to screw around with them, which Nico never really minded. Speak of the devil, Nico's sleek black car was parked in the front of the home. Nico was home.

Piper waltzed into the home like it was her own, which it practically was with the amount of times she came over. From the front door, the teens could smell delicious aromas drift in. Piper peeked into the kitchen to see Angelo with his hair tied back, flip patties. How often the house of males eat hamburgers? Leo ran upstairs, dragging his laptop and both teenager's book bags.

"Hello Mr. Di Angelo." Piper said, and Nico glanced up before flipping another slab of meat.

"Hello Piper. Are you staying for dinner? The guest room is always welcome." The Italian father said, opening the refridgerator door.

"Yes, please. And thank you, I would love to stay over." Piper said poilitely, before jumping to sit on the little island.

"Water? Juice? Soda?" Nico asked, shuffling through the fridge.

Piper understood the hidden meanings. Whenever Nico was concerned about Leo, he'd use the method of drinks.

Water was for friends.

Juice was for schoolwork.

Soda was for relationships.

Sometimes, Nico gave the Iced Tea option which was Secrets.

Piper didn't mind telling Nico about Leo. Leo wasn't too open when it came to his brown-eyed father as opposed to his sea green-eyed parent. Besides, it made Piper feel more like in a family then with her own. Piper really liked Angelo, and how worried he could be for Leo. She wished her own father could be the same.

Thankfully, Nico understood this. He listened to both his adoptive sons problems along with Piper. It was nice feeling.

"Water, please." Piper was only willing to share what she knew. It would be hard to talk about schoolwork considering Leo has only been to school for two days so far.

Nico passed Piper a water bottle and searched for frozen tofu patties.

"I met this guy named Jason. He's nice." Piper took a sip of the cool water.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Just nice?"

Piper blushed. " _Okay_ , maybe he's more than nice. He invited me out on Saturday. Like a- you know."

Di Angelo whipped around to face Piper. "He better not hurt you," He commented. "Or there would be hell to pay. No one hurts my family." Nico waved his spatula around.

Piper smiled. The statement made Piper feel warm and fuzzy inside. Piper liked the feeling and decided to continue the conversation.

"No one can mess with me. I have a brown belt in _Kar-a-te_." Piper grinned and Nico nodded approvingly. It was true. Piper took Karate classes on Saturday mornings from 9-10:30.

"That's my girl. Kick his ass if you must. How does Leo feel about Jason?"

Piper frowned not really sure what to say. How _did_ Leo feel about Jason? So she took a sip of water and Nico understood.

"Well, we have vegan patties, Piper."

"Sweet."

* * *

Leo was upside down on his bed when Piper walked.

"I forgot my computers deeeead." Leo's hair followed the law of gravity and Leo shirt rode up. Piper ignore it and blew a rasberry on his stomach.

"Hehehe-hey! Stop!" It took a few minutes (and thrown pillow) for Piper to stop and for Leo to stop laughing. The little playful arguement probably would have lasted longer if Piper didn't have to pee.

"Be right back." Piper said, rushing towards the hallway.

Leo just scrunched up his face and continued to lay upside down. Piper's phone buzzed next to him, scaring the living shit out of the Latino, who fell and banged his head on the carpeted floor.

" _FUCK!_ "

Leo decided to be a snoop and unlocked Piper's phone, to reveal a message from a certain **_ThunderandLightning._**

Well who was this person Piper was talking to?

By skimming through Piper's past messages, Piper and the weather dude have only talked for about two weeks. The messages were sort of awkward between the two and Leo cringed. Was that Piper's idea of flirting?

Regardless, the new message appealed to Leo and Leo was absolutely ready to screw up his best friend's relationship.

 _ **ThunderandLightning** started a chat with **BeautyQueen** at 5:09_

 **ThunderandLightning:** Hey

 **BeautyQueen:** sup bro

 **ThunderandLightning:** Just wanted to know what you were doing

 **BeautyQueen:** nothing just chillaxin with my best bro Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I saw him go to detention. He got out?

 **BeautyQueen:** jeez you make it seem like he got out the slammer

 **BeautyQueen:** so you go to my school?

 **ThunderandLightning:** I believe so...?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Unless I'm talking to a different BeautyQueen.

 **ThunderandLightning:** But I don't thinks so, because you're the most beautiful

 **BeautyQueen:**...

 **BeautyQueen:** that was terrible how do you live with youself

 **ThunderandLightning:** Aw, it wasn't that bad.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Alright, I know it was bad, but it wasn't that bad

 **BeautyQueen:**...

 **BeautyQueen:** so lets talk about the super sexy leo mcshizzle

 **ThunderandLightning:** What about him, Piper?

 **BeautyQueen:** well what do you think of him

 **BeautyQueen:** amazing right?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo? Valdez?

 **BeautyQueen:** what other awesome name is there

 **ThunderandLightning:** Oh Leo is kinda a dork

 **BeautyQueen:** what

 **ThunderandLightning:** But it's cute I guess.

 **ThunderandLightning:** I only knew him for literally two days

 **BeautyQueen:** oh cool you think im cute thats good

 **ThunderandLightning:** Uh

 **ThunderandLightning:** Well, I do think you're cute Piper

 **BeautyQueen:** crap, i meant hes cute*

 **ThunderandLightning:** ...

 **BeautyQueen:** wait you think pipers cute

 **BeautyQueen:** i mean

 **BeautyQueen:** you think im cute

 **ThunderandLightning:** Uh.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Well you are in a way but

 **BeautyQueen:** thats great!

 **BeautyQueen:** someone thinks both me and piper is cute

 **BeautyQueen:** wait fuck when you said i was cute did you mean like cute as adorable child or cute as in totally have a crush on

 **BeautyQueen:** i hope its the second one you closet pedo

 **BeautyQueen:** uh i mean when you said leo was cute what did you mean

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo?

 **BeautyQueen:** what

 **BeautyQueen:** fuck, cover blown then

 **ThunderandLightning:** Uh.

 **BeautyQueen:** so you think im cute

 **BeautyQueen:** your such a pedo

 **BeautyQueen:** do you creep on other adorable children

 **ThunderandLightning:** What?

 **BeautyQueen:** shush i know you have a problem

 **BeautyQueen:** there are people out ther who can help you

 **ThunderandLightning:** uH WHAT

 **BeautyQueen:** here talk to me HotStuffRepairs person

 **BeautyQueen:** who are you anyway

 **ThunderandLightning:** Um

 **ThunderandLightning:** Chris?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Yes, Chris is my name.

 **BeautyQueen:** well then chris talk to me ;)

 **BeautyQueen:** well im deleting these messages, pretend this never happened.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Trust me, I will.

 **BeautyQueen:** and remember if pipes isnt avaliable you always have me

 **BeautyQueen:** i think she liked some jason?

 **BeautyQueen:** kinda a softie, but hot?

 **BeautyQueen:** eh who cares im sure you dont

 **ThunderandLightning:** Piper likes Jason?

 **BeautyQueen:** oh shit pipes has been in the bathroom for to long did she fall and cant get up

 **BeautyQueen:** hasta luego chris i need to take care of my friend.

 _ **BeautyQueen** ended chat with **ThunderandLightning** at 5:31_

 _[50+ messages deleted.]_

* * *

Leo knocked on the bathroom door and Piper groaned.

"Leoooooooo." Piper complained, holding her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Leo didn't want to hear his friend groaning in pain.

Leo pressed his ear against the wooden door, and Piper mumbled something.

"What? Couldn't hear you Pipes. Speak louder, _nina_."

Piper grumbled.

"Can you- _ugh-_ get me some pads? Or- _crap_ \- tampons?" Piper said and Leo scrunched his nose.

"Sure?," He slid her phone under the door crack. "Tell me what kind? Do girls even have kinds?"

"Yeah. Just, you know- hurry. Kinda- _oh_ \- bleeding out."

"Well crap dude."

Leo ran down the stairs and shouted a quick farwell to his father who didn't hear him, due to earbuds.

As Leo jumped on his bike, in his pocket his phone vibrated.

 _1 new message-Chat request from ThunderandLigthning_

* * *

 **Translations:**

 _ **Gracias-**_ Thank you

 _ **Nina-**_ Little Girl (the second 'n' actually has an accent, you know the squiggly line on top)

 **A/N: Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I actually forgot that this past Friday I was supposed to go to NYC for the weekend. So I didn't have any WiFi really. I believe this week I might go again, but not entirely to sure about that one. Ah, if I do, then you shall know my back-up date would be that Sunday/Monday.**

 **Hmm, I was planning a soulmate AU for Jason/Leo? Thoughts? Maybe the words on the wrist one, or the one where you can't see colors( _there's a name for thishowdoInotknowit)_? I would love to actually write on out sooner or later maybe but I'm not sure how it might turn out.**

 **It has also occurred to me how much I should really get a Beta for my spelling, man. I'm so lazy to use the other laptop, since all my work is saved to this one, BUT THIS IS THE ONE WITHOUT SPELLCHECK. Sigh. I'll fix it. Eventually. Maybe when I actually have nothing to do.**

 **December is coming up sooo fast, can't wait for Christmas. Cause when Christmas comes, the week before that is my birthday week (hell yeah)! Christmas fics are always so much fun * _hinthint*._**

* * *

 **Edit: I was honestly really lazy with editing this one, so just tell me if anything should be fixed.**


	4. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy

Leo managed to get to the store in a matter of minutes. The drug store was particularly empty, and Leo scanned through the aisles for the lady necessities.

To his surprise, Leo saw Jason. Talking to his dad. In the pad aisle.

Clearly, Leo was missing something very important.

Which is why Leo back flipped (okay so _maybe_ he just speed walked) into the next aisle and pulled on some sunglasses. With the Clearance Sale tag sticking uncomfortably in Leo's right ear, Leo was ready to spy.

He slid smoothly into the aisle, and hoped the cheetah print glasses were enough to make it seem like he was a girl. Leo _has_ been told that he did have rather luxurious hair.

"... Yeah, my sister just said to grab some pads? She never told me what kind." Jason mumbled, turning pink.

Percy laughed.

"It's no problem, really. I remember when my ex asked for some tampons in the middle of a movie. I had to ask an old lady for some help. I think she thought I was looking for condoms, and gave me the _talk_." Percy, shivered and then laughed again.

Jason reddened even more. "That must have sucked. You're getting these for your new girlfriend?"

Leo almost snorted, as he pretended to examine the colorful packages. Why would girls need wings? Why are there night version? Leo was suddenly happy he wasn't on his period, yet alone a girl.

Percy raised an eyebrow and glanced down the aisle, taking little notice of Leo.

"Girlfriend? Nah, I have a husband. In fact he called and asked me to pick these up for my son's best friend. Who's currently in our second floor bathroom, drinking Ginger Ale, while chatting with Nico. He's not really bothered by blood or a vagina." Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and Jason's eyes widened.

"Husband? As in you're-"

"Bi? Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?" Percy joked and his eyes looked Leo's form up and down, before laughing to himself.

Dammit. Leo was caught.

"Hmm... I haven't bought stuff for a teenager in a while. Maybe you should ask that absolutely stunning, girl over there. I'm sure she would love to help." Percy said before, laughing again.

"Damn it." Leo muttered, before turning his head to face the new packages. Although he didn't really need to get anything, since his dad was obviously getting some stuff.

Jason awkwardly cleared his throat and Leo avoided his blue eyes.

"Excuse me, Miss, but what-er- products would a 24 year old- uh- use?" Jason coughed.

God, he was so awkward. Leo would've laughed, but that would be extremely rude. And, you know, Leo was just so considerate.

In the highest falsetto voice he could manage, Leo spoke.

"I wouldn't know! I am not 24. Don't tell me I look that old?" Leo blinked. Did he really sound like a girl?

Jason shuffled his feet. "No. Sorry miss. Please, excuse me." The blonde said before awkwardly walking away.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _accepts chat with_ _ **ThunderandLightning.**_

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _started a chat with_ _ **ThunderandLightning**_ _at 7:35_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hey

 **ThunderandLightning:** Hello Leo

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh god chris your such a creep

 **ThunderandLightning:** Chris? I'm Jason.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jason like piperandjason jason

 **ThunderandLightning:** Yes?

 **ThunderandLightning:** We're not a thing

 **HotStuffRepairs:** of course you are

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you two have a date on saturday right

 **ThunderandLightning:** It's not a date

 **HotStuffRepairs:** of course it is

 **HotStuffRepairs:** boy meets girl girl meets boy

 **HotStuffRepairs:** boy likes girl girl likes boy

 **HotStuffRepairs:** boy asks girl out girls says yes

 **HotStuffRepairs:** boy breaks condom girl gets baby

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uncle leo gets paid lots of green for amazing babysitting

 **HotStuffRepairs:** trust me im an expert on these things

 **ThunderandLightning:** ...

 **ThunderandLightning:** You're blunt

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and single and cute )

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and you like like piper

 **HotStuffRepairs:** see were just stating obvious things now

 **ThunderandLightning:** But it's not like that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its okay i support your marriage

 **ThunderandLightning:** We're not getting married Leo

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh i see

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you guy will have the baby to bond your love together

 **ThunderandLightning:** Sure Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** Whatever you say Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** Because this will definitely happen Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I wish you could see my pointed staring

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i already know your staring

 **HotStuffRepairs:** everyone stares

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you would think its like these people have never seen a king

 **HotStuffRepairs:** the nerve of some people really

 **ThunderandLightning:** The nerve.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i know right

 **HotStuffRepairs:** siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what did you have for dinner

 **ThunderandLightning:** Why

 **HotStuffRepairs:** making conversation jeez chill

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its like youve never talked to someone

 **HotStuffRepairs:** the nerve of you

 **ThunderandLightning:** The nerve.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i know right

 **ThunderandLightning:** Spaghetti

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what

 **ThunderandLightning:** You asked what I had for dinner. Spaghetti and Meatballs

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh yeah i did ask that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** italian food is okay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** one year my papa thought i was being kidnapped and when he beat up the dude, he cooked italian food for weeks

 **HotStuffRepairs:** papa stress cooks italian pasta

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its weird

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its like his blood is tomato sauce

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i swear i think he was so pissed he told me that fettuccine would be a better child

 **ThunderandLightning:** Uh...

 **ThunderandLightning:** Kidnapped?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh yeah so what happened was

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i was walking home from pipes and this dude was looking for directions cause like he only knew spanish

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and papa thought he kidnapped me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** did some kind of kung fu shit and told the guy like a million ways papa could kill him

 **ThunderandLightning:** I wouldn't mess with your dad then

 **ThunderandLightning:** Sounds dangerous

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dangerous nah papas surprisingly cuddly and stuff

 **HotStuffRepairs:** like a teddy bear

 **HotStuffRepairs:** a homicidal teddy bear

 **HotStuffRepairs:** that make very yummy pasta actually

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and curses you out in italian

 **ThunderandLightning:** Fun.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** see

 **HotStuffRepairs:** your getting things now

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but i can tell he loves me and percy very much

 **HotStuffRepairs:** loves us more than pasta

 **ThunderandLightning:** Percy?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh yeah i forgot you havent met the family yet

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im hungry hold on

 **ThunderandLightning:** Alright.

* * *

The glass clattered on the table and everyone was quiet. Leo stopped drumming his fingers on the table, in shock, and Piper bit her lip. Nico stared at Percy, astonished.

"What?" Nico asked and Percy swallowed the food in his mouth.

"I was fired." Percy said slowly, as if tasting out the words for himself. He grimaced, decided he didn't like the way it sounded.

"How?" Nico demanded and Piper threw a glance at Leo, who was staring at the tabletop.

"There was an incident, two kids ganging up on one and-"

Nico's chair was pushed back as he stood up. Percy stared at his lap guiltily. Leo sniffed, surprisingly quiet, and Piper stared at the glass of fruit punch in front of her.

"What did you _do,_ Percy!?" Nico shouted and Percy narrowed his eyes at his lap before looking up t his husband.

"What do you mean, _what did I do?!_ I protected an innocent _child!_ " Percy yelled back, standing up as well.

"You got _fired!_ Did you not think about this family?!" Nico bellowed and Percy screamed in frustration.

"Of course I thought about us! Why wouldn't I?!" Percy yelled and pressed his hand on the table, causing Leo to jump.

"You're so selfish!" Nico screamed and Percy glared.

" _I'm_ selfish? You're the one whose been pressuring Leo into becoming _you!_ I don't see him taking _swimming lessons_ or _fencing,_ but he's playing _piano_ and going _Ivy League_." Percy yelled and left the dining room.

Nico stormed out the room.

Leo winced as he heard doors slamming and muffled arguing. His hands were under the table as he snapped the figure in his hands in half. He made while the four were eating and joking happily.

"And where do you think _you're_ going!" Nico's voice was closer now and Percy scowled.

"Out." Percy said, slamming the door.

Piper jumped at the sound and looked at Leo.

"Can I sleep with you, tonight?" Piper said and Leo nodded mutely.

* * *

Leo was putting on his shirt when Piper walked in. She pointed her thumb to the hallway.

"Bathroom's free." She said and Leo shrugged off his jeans, before walking out towards the bathroom.

Piper shred her shirt and pulled on one of Percy's that she snagged from the father's bedroom. Her jeans were pulled off before pulling on a pair on Leo's sweatpants. Leo found the girl laying on his bed, doing homework.

"Nice shirt." He commented and dropped on the bed. He placed his head very comfortably on the arch of her back and stared at his ceiling.

Without glancing up, Piper rolled her eyes and replied with a, "Thanks, I got it from your mom."

The shirt in question, was obviously Percy's with its sea horse printed on light blue background. Leo's own shirt had the Superman symbol, and Leo decided that his lovely yellow plaid boxers and red and white striped socks would fit nicely. Leo was also a fashion disaster.

Leo squinted and Piper's hair, fingering a feather. "Was that a sex comment? I think it was."

Piper laughed and marked another question. "Naturally, Leo."

Leo scrunched up his nose. "Okay, _ew_ Piper, stop thinking about my dads and their fun times together." Leo sat on Piper's back and stared at the hair mess in front of him.

"Why not? They're kinda hot. And besides, we all know Percy's on the bottom." Piper muttered, eyebrows furrowing at the math problem in front of her. "Solve this."

Leo paused his braiding, to look over Piper's shoulder. "X equals 47, while Y equals 9- no, 9.1. And don't change the topic, stop thinking about my dads, you freak."

"Thanks. And I think I'd rather enjoy my lovely visions of your dads' tender and lovely fuc-"

" _Spare me the details."_ Leo tugged gently on Piper's almost finished braid and Piper laughed.

Leo smiled at the finished fish tail braid and returned to his previous position, laying down.

"I like to think that they switch." Leo muttered after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Piper just laughed and turned to look at Leo, who flipped her off.

"Done. Let's sleep man." Piper said, throwing her folder carelessly, on the floor.

"Hey! I worked hard to clean this room, you ungrateful wretch." Leo scolded, turning off the lights, and jumping into the bed.

Piper rolled her eyes, and slipped under the covers. "You cleaned it, and then a tornado hit it? I think I saw a pair of pink boxers on the desk Leo."

Leo pouted, and wiggled around over the covers. "They were for breast cancer awareness."

Piper laughed before pulling the nuts and bolts designed sheets up, as Leo stretched out in a comfortable position on top of them.

"Night Pipes. Don't droll on my pillow."

"Night Leo. Don't have any wet dreams."

"That never happened, asshole."

"Of course it did, I know how much you crave my presence underneath these sheets. But I don't want your cold feet so no."

Leo rolled to face the wall. "My feet aren't cold."

Piper closed her eyes. "Nah they aren't. You're actually freakishly warm. Just don't want your gay dreams to infiltrate my dreams."

"Not gay." Leo yawned and Piper snorted.

"Yeah, you also like girls. Night bro."

"Night."

* * *

When Leo woke up, he had to step over a snoring Piper. He almost rolled off the bed, with her included, but managed to get past without waking the slumbering girl. Leo didn't want to deal with her crabbiness when she woke up earlier then needed.

Although it was Wednesday, making it a school day.

Leo dragged his feet downstairs to the kitchen, and to his surprise his dad was standing at the coffee maker. Percy was standing, fully dressed, flicking through his phone's contents. The toaster dinged, making Percy pay attention to the slightly burned toast.

"Good morning." Leo commented, yawning.

"Morning. Piper still here? The guest room was empty." Percy said, pouring out a cup of orange juice for Leo, who scrunched up his nose.

"Thanks. Yeah, she slept with me. Don't worry, no virginities were taken last night. What time did you come in?" Leo sipped the acidic drink and reached into a cupboard for cereal and a bowl.

The adult ignored the question and responded with, "You two still sleep together? Are you _sure_ there's nothing going on between you two?"

Leo frowned. "Nah, we've known each other too long, and half different interests. It would be like dating your sister. Isn't that how you compared Ms. Chase to Papa? She was like your sister? And when did you come home?"

Percy chuckled and bit into burnt toast. "Annabeth? Yes, I guess you can say she was like a sister. I was just messing with ya, I know how your relationship with Piper is, just teasing."

Leo rolled his eyes, searching the fridge for milk.

In the middle of eating, Leo's other father walked in.

"Good morning Leo." Nico mumbled, ignoring Percy who gave him the cold shoulder anyway.

The air was tense between the two parental figures and it made it hard for Leo to swallow his diabetes-inducing sugary cereal. The Hispanic swallowed a final bite before storming out of the room, to his parents surprise.

Why did adults have to act so childish? How come it was okay for them to act like this but if _Leo_ did so, it was a problem?

Piper was in the shower when Leo marched into his room. He threw a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants on the bed for Piper (the shirt had a picture of _Godzilla_ ) and started working on his home work for yesterday.

When Piper came into the room with only a towel on, Leo was in the middle of French papers. Yesterday, he sat alone due to Juniper still being sick, Hazel being called to the nurse, and Frank disappearing (Leo figured he probably died of something, too bad what a shame rest in peace).

"Do this, _thankyou!"_ Leo screeched as he ran into the shower.

Piper rolled her eyes and got dressed.

* * *

Detention was spent with McScowlyface again.

Sadly, nothing entertaining happened (ignoring when Leo tripped and his face fell on the desk, narrowly missing getting stabbed in the eye) and McScowlyface left immediately after the two were released.

In fact nothing interesting really happened for the rest of the week until Friday.

Friday after his final detention, Leo was waiting for his Papa to pick him up. Piper had to go to the mall to shop for her date with Jason, and Jason had claimed he had to go to work, where he worked at a cafe. Nico had volunteered for picking up Leo, and Percy mentioned he had to stay at the school late to negotiate his job. Leo's fathers were still not talking.

The teenager was sitting on the steps, listening to music when a shadow covered Leo's sunlight.

"Hey, _senor_ , but you're blocking my sun-" Leo started to say before his mouth was covered by a large hand.

The man was big and burly, with a hood covering his face, with tattoos running down strong arms.

' _HOLYFUCKINGCRAP I'M GOING TO ACTUALLY DIE! I'M ACTUALLY AM GOING TO FREAKING DIE!',_ was the thought that flew into Leo's mind, until he registered the man was talking.

"-no idea how long I have been looking for you, Leo. I'm so happy-" the definitely a serial killer was saying before freezing up. His eye's widened, and Leo's did too, as he screamed into the hand on his mouth.

"Let go of my son."

Nico Di Angelo lived up to his namesake and was literally Leo's guardian angel. Leo mentally swore to never get into any trouble for the next few decades of his life. His father, was standing threateningly behind the man, holding something against the man's head, with a phone in his other hand. Was he holding a _gun_ to his head?

The man turned around, and backed away, holding Leo to his chest. Leo smelled the scent of soot and bleach, as he screamed into the hand. Nico flicked off the safety, and the Leo felt the stranger tense.

"I swear to _fucking God_ , if you do not _let go_ of my son, I will _shoot_ you." Nico's arm didn't tremble as he took a step forward.

Behind Leo, the offender, was whispering pointless nothings in Leo's ear, which calmed Leo in a weird sense. The Latino didn't recognized the tears falling down his face as he was being spoken to softly.

"-it's okay, everything will be okay, Leo. I won't hurt you, I'll save you- I'll find you again. _I promise_."

Nico's left eye twitched and his phone feel to the ground as he reached into his suit pocket. Leo would've laughed at the fact that it seemed to be a scene from a movie, except he was in the hostage position.

"Close your eyes, Leo!" Nico yelled, and Leo did.

The man cried out, and Leo ripped his way out of the man's grip. Nico pulled him to his side, and dropped the gun.

"Oh my god, Leo, are you alright?" Nico asked, and Leo sobbed harder. Nico pulled him into a hug and hardly cared about his own appearance, as he held his son.

"I'm not letting you go, Leo. Remember that." Nico whispered and Leo wailed harder.

* * *

The police couldn't find the hooded man. They searched in a 3 mile radius, but he was nowhere to be found. It was like he didn't exist.

Nico kept true to his word and kept Leo in arm's distance while the police questioned both. When the two were eligible for release, Nico politely refused the ride home, and drove his own luxury car home.

"Was that a gun?" Leo mumbled, throat sore from crying. The teen had been silent, and was just staring out the window.

Nico glanced at the boy before looking back up to the road in front of him.

"No. It was a toy that you left in this car years ago. You had some questionable toys as a child." Nico smiled slightly and Leo sniffed.

"What did you do to him? After you told me to close my eyes, I mean?" Leo turned in his seat, to look at his father's profile.

The Italian put on his turn signal and waited for the light to turn green.

"Pepper Spray. Body guards aren't always there, you know." Nico said and Leo nodded.

"Okay."

The rest of the trip was silent, and the house felt cold when Leo stepped in. Nico had to stop Leo before the teen ran upstairs.

"Leo."

Leo turned, and whined. "What? I just want to take shower and sleep-"

Nico interrupted with a hug and a kiss to the forehead. "As long as I'm alive, that's never going to happen again. I love you."

Leo gasped and wiped his forehead furiously. " _Ew! Papa germs!_ " Nico chuckled and then Leo went up the stairs.

"Love you too, but _stop_ with the gross kisses! I'm _sixteen,_ turning seventeen _tomorrow!_ " Leo whined as he closed the bathroom door.

Nico laughed and set up a pot for cooking.

Pasta seemed like an appropriate dish for today's event's.

* * *

 **HotStuffRepairs:** good luck on your date with pipes

 **ThunderandLightning:** Thanks

 **ThunderandLightning:** Do you think she likes flowers? Maybe I should get her roses? Girls like roses, right? I'll get rainbow ones, like her eyes maybe?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so im ignoring that let me tell you what happened earlier

 **...**

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so yeah papa is badass

 **ThunderandLightning:** Wow Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'm so sorry

 **ThunderandLightning:** Are you okay?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** of course

 **HotStuffRepairs:** it was probably a good thing he was picking me up today

 **HotStuffRepairs:** otherwise you would have a hot leo missing

 **HotStuffRepairs:** not that i couldnt get away i mean i totally couldve

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i was just you know

 **HotStuffRepairs:** letting papa have the spotlight

 **ThunderandLightning:** My dad probably wouldn't have done that.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** your dad sucks

 **ThunderandLightning:** I know. He's hardly ever around.

 **ThunderandLightning:** And when he is, it's a nightmare.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** poor jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i would give you one of my dads but you know i kinda want them

 **ThunderandLightning:** Dads?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah nico and percy

 **ThunderandLightning:** Percy?

 **ThunderandLightning:** I meant a Percy before. He said he did have a husband named Nico and a son.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Wait, you have two dads?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oi

 **HotStuffRepairs:** did you not get that from my last messages

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i thought i made it pretty clear

 **ThunderandLightning:** What about your mom?

 **ThunderandLightning:** It's literally medically impossible for you to have two dads

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ...

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im only saying this because you didnt know

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and i wouldnt normally tell anyone else but youre becoming a good friend and will start dating piper so

 **HotStuffRepairs:** my moms dead

 **HotStuffRepairs:** she died a long time ago and i dont want to talk about how

 **HotStuffRepairs:** my biological dad didnt want me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i got adopted years ago

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but id rather live here with my dads then with my actual dad because at least they want me :)

 **ThunderandLightning:** My mom died too years ago

 **ThunderandLightning:** My dad doesn't really make much difference in my life either. I live with my older sister.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** huh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** well would you look at that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** me and you

 **HotStuffRepairs:** we are just two extremely cute teenagers who have weird parent relationships and are also really cute single hot manly dudes

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo that was so gay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** youre the one who called me cute

 **HotStuffRepairs:** do you remember that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** because i remember that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** keep in mind if you and piper dont work out...

 **ThunderandLightning:** Thank so much for the offer Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'll take that to heart, I really will

 **ThunderandLightning:** Look at that sarcasm. Do you see it? Because I do.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** whatever bro

 **HotStuffRepairs:** do you have work tomorrow?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Yeah. Sally's Treats?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** heh thats my grandmas place

 **HotStuffRepairs:** she owns it heheh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** see you there to help you out with your date with beautyqueen

 **ThunderandLightning:** Thanks

 **HotStuffRepairs:** np

 **HotStuffRepairs:** night jason

 **ThunderandLightning:** Good night Leo

 _ **ThunderandLightning**_ _ended chat with_ _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _at 11:37_

* * *

 **Translations:**

 _ **senor-**_ **Mr. (It's like a title, but for females there is Senorita for MISS/MS and Senora for MRS.) (The n has the squiggly on top shush)**

 **A/N: This wasn't supposed to be this long damn it. This chapter was originally two but I just...**

 **shut up don't say anything I know I just can't stop typing.**

 **Anyway, reviews (or comments how ever you prefer to say them) are extremely helpful and amazing and just** _ **WHEEEEEE!**_ **Thanks for the favorites and likes. I'm planning on editing all the mistakes in previous chapters in just a few minutes so that'll happen (I stopped avoiding my responsibility). Now, let's just see if I can get a chapter in by Friday? I don't recall me actually having something to do... if I do, you know the make up dates.**

 **ALSO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: I WAS LOOKING AT SOMEONES BIO AND I SAW THIS:**

someone on this site has just recently passed away after a bad accident. Their username is CreativeNameIndeed. If you can, Please play your respects to this wonderful writer. I know we do not know this person but they have been apart of this awesome community for over a year.

 **I'm so freaking sorry, I didn't even know that person but I know it's just heartbreaking so :'(**


	5. That terrible phone call conversation

Leo tiptoed past the kitchen like the spy he was. Could he be a spy? Probably.

In the kitchen, his parents were eating breakfast and talking in hushed tones. Leo tried hard to listen to the conversation without getting caught.

"Yeah, I did manage to get the job back. I had to explain why I put those bullies outside my classroom for the rest of the day." Percy mumbled and Leo strained his head to listen. He was wondering when they were going to make up. It was probably good it was on his birthday too.

"That's good." The coffee brewer made a _whirring_ noise.

"Yeah." Leo could practically see Percy nodding to himself. A chair creaked against the tile as it was pushed back.

"I went over to Annabeth's that night. She managed to talk some sense into me. I didn't mean to get mad, you know." Percy said, and the sink was turned on, making Nico's response hard to hear.

Percy's laugh was loud as the sink was shut off. "Yeah, I _know_ how hard it is for a family to last on one income. Did you forget how I grew up?"

Nico opened the fridge. "No, of course not. I do mean what I said though. Can't get fired like that. But I do apologize for yelling. Work was just rough and- _mmph! Percy!"_

Percy laughed harder and Leo heard something scrape. A bowl perhaps?

"Don't kiss me when I'm talking!" Nico yelled, and Leo could practically see him beet red.

"Couldn't help it." Percy said, and the scraping noise was heard again.

"Where you eating the pancake batter? _Percy!_ That's for Leo! I knew I shouldn't have asked you to help me." Nico exclaimed and Leo practically jumped for joy. Pancakes? Birthday pancakes usually had-

"I would've just went behind your back to eat the sprinkles. This time I choose to eat them in front of you." Percy chuckled and the sound of something hitting skin made Percy laugh again.

Leo took this moment to make his presence known. "Good Morning y'all!" Leo fake yawned as if he wasn't awake for the last three hours.

Inside the kitchen was Nico dressed in a apron (it had a little cartoon skulls and bones thanks to Percy's skills) and his hair was tied back. In his hand was a spatula, which Leo assumed was what he hit his husband with. Percy was sitting on top of the counter, with a mixing bowl in his lap, open sprinkles bottle to his side. Leo hoped his dad didn't hijack the sprinkles again and pull out every color besides blue. Leo didn't want blue sprinkled pancakes again.

"Happy Birthday Leo. Now tell this demon to stop eating sprinkles and give me back the batter." Nico glared at Percy, raising the spatula threateningly.

Leo rolled his eyes and stretched.

Percy handed the bowl to Nico but kept the sprinkles. "Now, if I was a demon, I would be the super sexy succubus." Percy inquired and Leo scrunched up his nose.

"You would be a troll, if anything. A troll, dad." Leo said, snatching the bottle away. "A greedy troll who can't buy his own sugar."

Nico nodded enthusiastically from his position above the stove. "See, Percy? Leo _is_ smart."

Percy rolled his eyes and slid off the counter. "Leo, you're taking swimming lessons." Percy mumbled and Leo blinked.

Dad had been fighting with Papa over swimming lessons for _years_. However, Papa had always claimed that learning an instrument would be a better opportunity for Leo. Piano was fun and all, but what if Leo was stuck on a deserted island (this was always Percy's excuse which Nico countered with a, 'No why would Leo be on a deserted _island?_ ')?

Nico grunted in agreement and Leo smiled. It was good to see the two adults thinking as one unit again.

"Thank you." Leo said, and he ran towards his room. He needed to get dressed for the day.

* * *

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _started chat with_ _ **BeautyQueen**_ _at 9:21_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** they made up

 **BeautyQueen:** Did you just wake me up

 **BeautyQueen:** That's good and all but you're going to die the next time I see you

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh no

 **HotStuffRepairs:** the wrath of piper mclean

 **BeautyQueen:** Fear me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i fear your morning breath

 **BeautyQueen:** Happy Birthday dick

 **HotStuffRepairs:** excuse you

 **HotStuffRepairs:** my name is leo the amazing

 **HotStuffRepairs:** treat it right peasant

 **BeautyQueen:** Sorry man

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo, Happy Birthday you dick

 **HotStuffRepairs:** actually you can refer to me as your majesty

 **BeautyQueen:** Actually you can stop talking and let me go to sleep

 **HotStuffRepairs:** then stop responding

 _ **BeautyQueen**_ _blocked_ _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _at 9:29_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** rude

* * *

Leo slid out of the auto body shop. He cursed as a screwdriver dropped on to his foot, during his departure.

Today was a slower day and he left early due to the special day, but his favorite customer, Will, came by. Will Solace was a sunny man, who always smiled at Leo while explaining the damage to his car. The smiley blonde for some reason, could not drive for his life. Nearly every week, he came in because of something going wrong. But other times, Will just came to make Leo repair trinkets or such.

Leo crossed the street and opened the cafe's door. Above his head, a little bell jingled to announce his arrival. The store was surprisingly empty, except for the familiar worker at the counter, who was wiping the marble counter.

" _Hola._ " Leo jumped onto the counter, ignoring the oil that rubbed off his jeans.

"Hello, Leo." Jason said, smiling. His black shirt that employees were supposed to wear fit nicely, and Leo ignored his own graphic tee that had a picture of _Transformers,_ with a plaid unbuttoned over it.

"So is _abuelita_ here? I bought her birthday pancakes." Leo said, shaking his plastic bag lightly.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "It's her birthday? She never told me." Jason whistled as he bet down to grab a new wipe for the counter top.

"Nah. Mine." Leo said, and Jason blinked.

"Really, man? You should have told me. I would've bought you a gift, if I had known." Jason pushed Leo off the counter, to wipe it again. Leo stared at the pastries through the glass.

"Must've forgotten then." Leo shrugged. "You can make it up to me, by coming to the water park trip next Saturday. Me and Pipes are going, and we wouldn't mind you coming alongside."

Jason nodded appreciatively. "Okay. But let me buy you a drink or something to eat. It's on me."

Leo looked up, eyes widening. "If you say so! Say goodbye to at least twenty bucks bro." Leo grinned and Jason rolled his eyes.

Which is how Leo ended up surrounded by food and a x-large cup of hot chocolate. Jason stared incrediously at the food. He shook his head, as he watched the Latino go through the donuts, and took one for himself.

"Where does it all go?" Jason wondered out loud, staring at Leo's lean body and Leo momentarily stopped eating.

"I really have no idea." Leo shrugged and stuffed himself again.

Twenty minutes later, Leo burped and sipped the hot chocolate.

"Who drinks hot chocolate in summer?" Jason asked and Leo gasped.

"It's like eating ice cream in winter. You just _have_ to."

Jason rolled his eyes and sipped his lemonade. Iced drinks were definitely more reasonable, considering it was practically lunch time during the summer.

"So about your date with Piper. What are you doing?" Leo finally said, licking the whipped cream off. Jason had put a _lot_ of whipped cream, which made Leo like Jason even more. Jason was now dubbed as super-cool-friend-who-buys-Leo-yummy-food. Leo figured Jason would like the very accurate title.

"Watch a movie. Then go out to eat." Jason shrugged, pushing his straw among the pieces of ice at the bottom.

Leo scrunched up his nose. " _What?_ That's so cliche. How about a picnic? Girls love romantic days, and girls like parks, right."

Jason shrugged. "No clue."

The two sat in silence, staring at each other, pondering on the fact that _maybe girls_ do _like romantic days and parks_? Leo never really noticed, but Jason had a scar by his mouth. It was kind of funny to look at. What stupid thing could the alleged 'intelligent' Jason do to have a scar by his mouth? Maybe he did something super cool? Like a pirate! A _battle scar?_ Leo's eyes widened, and Jason's face filled with confusion. Oh god, what if Jason was a freaking _criminal!?_ Leo needed to up his cool factor sooner or later because Jason being a criminal is _so cool_.

Then Leo came up with a brilliant idea. "Alright, so how about we call her," Leo said, sliding his phone out of his pocket, " and just ask her what her perfect date is?"

Jason blinked, before his eyes widened. "Leo. You're a genius." Jason wagged his straw at Leo, who grinned triumphantly.

* * *

"I know."

Three minutes later, after much arguing, Leo's phone was on the table, speakerphone on. It took Piper three rings to pick up and when she did, she cursed Leo and Jason out in a weird mixture of French and English. Frenglish, is what Leo and Jason decided to call it.

"Er, well now that you have that out your system, can I ask you a question?" Leo asked, looking over to Jason, who nodded silently. The boys' heads were hoovering over the phone screen and Leo almost got blond hair in his eyes.

"...Fine." There was a bit of rustling on Piper's end.

"Okaaaaaaay, well you know how you're going on a date with Jason?" Leo dragged out the 'a' for reasons he didn't even know about.

"Yeah? Oh god, don't tell me he's ditching me. He is, isn't he?" The rustling stopped, and the sound of water was heard. Leo figured that Piper was probably by the water fountain in the mall. The water fountain was a place that both Piper and Leo enjoyed immensely.

"Nah, he's not. Unless he is, I wouldn't know." Jason rolled his eyes and Leo smiled to himself. "But, what do you want your date with him to be like?"

Piper took a few minutes to respond, and Leo almost thought, the girl had hung up. "I don't know, why are you asking? Something romantic I guess? What do most girls in highschool want?"

Both Leo and Jason shrugged at the same time, causing Leo to giggle.

"Hehehe, I dunno, that's why I'm asking you. Hey, do girls like the movies or picnics better? The picnics, right?" Jason snorted and Piper blew into the phone.

"Uh, I like the aquarium? Yeah, I like the aquarium. It's pretty." Piper's side had more conversation as a group of teenagers past by.

"Hmm. I can do aquarium. But picnics are totally better than movies, right? Yeah, they are. Say you agree." Leo smirked at Jason who rolled his eyes, but still wanted to hear the answer.

"Whatever you say, Leo. Hey, do you think Jason would know if this bag is off-brand? I mean, I know his family has money and I-"

"Piper, my dear. I simply could not give a fuck. _Byeeee_!" Leo chirped before hanging up.

"Is that good enough for you? Aquarium?" Leo asked Jason, who was staring at the napkins dispenser.

Jason glanced up at Leo, before looking back towards the apparently very interesting napkins.

"I don't like aquariums too much. All that fish is just- _meh._ " Jason shuddered and Leo laughed.

"Hey, I kinda love aquariums, but sorry bro. You like Piper, no? Hmm, I can give you a discount on the tickets too." Jason glanced at Leo again, before looking away.

"Thanks. Why do you-"

"Dad volunteers a lot. By a lot, I mean _a lot._ "

"Oh." Jason said and stood up. "I have to get back to my job. Can you help me put up these decorations around the store? We're decorating for back to school."

Leo nodded, happy to help. "Sure!"

* * *

Jason gave Leo a few jobs, which took a little long on Leo's part. Leo was just being extremely slow, humming songs under his breath.

A few customers came in, making Jason stop with the decorations, to help them. Leo didn't mind. Until Leo lost something.

Leo was on his hands and knees behind the counter, with Jason at his side, typing in numbers for a teenager's super funky latte. Leo had lost a screw for something he was screwing around with (ha ha ha, Leo loved puns), and it rolled onto the floor during Leo's attempts to catch it.

Jason was no help, and just grinned and told Leo to get down to find it. Leo had to find the stupid screw before Jason realized it was from his watch (although on second thought, maybe he should let the unhelpful blond suffer with the lack of a watch).

Leo bumped into Jason's blue jean clad leg. His face was rather a little too close to Jason's _unmentionables_ and Leo almost bumped into his knee again. Jason's sneaker, nudged his side, which kind of tickled. Damn you, body! Leo giggled, and made his way around Jason.

Which didn't matter since Jason was walking away anyway, to actually make a wonderful latte. Leo nearly fell face first into the ground as he leaned in to inspect the ground. "Dammit." Leo muttered as the screw was nowhere to be found-

"Need help?" Jason's face was suddenly in front of Leo's, making Leo yelp and leap backwards, into the counter.

Jason laughed and pressed his hands on each side Leo's knees, as Leo huddled against the back of the counter.

"Are you okay?" Jason leaned in close. His breath smelled like mint.

Leo decided he liked the smell, and nodded.

Jason winced and pulled back.

"Found it." Jason muttered, inspecting his hand, and Leo held out his own. Jason dropped it in Leo's palm, and rubbed his hand.

"Ouch that hurt. What was that even for?" Jason looked up to Leo, who was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Doesn't matter, it just matters that you found it! What are you, _Superman?_ " Leo said, covertly pulling the watch out of his pocket.

Jason chuckled. "Nah. I actually wear glasses. It just happened that my hand landed on the screw."

"Sweet! Anyway, here's your watch." Leo fist pumped, and crawled his was out from under the counter, Jason behind him.

Leo's phone buzzed as he jumped on the counter. Jason dusted off his body and Leo unwrapped a straw, blowing into it.

"Hey, when is you date with Piper anyway?" Leo said, leaning back on his palms. Jason reached past Leo to grab a napkin.

"Four, probably. The aquarium closes at like 5, right?"

"Try 9:45." Leo snorted. With Leo sitting on the counter, Leo and Jason were actually the same height, and Leo could finally look at Jason eye-to-eye. Not like it was any different than Leo's normal position (complete utter bullshit, Leo was short, and Jason was not).

"Then 7. Seven seems okay."

Leo's phone buzzed again, and Jason's gaze lowered to Leo's jeans. "You should take that, huh?"

"Uh huh." Leo fished out the phone from his skinny jeans and read the messages.

 _1 new message from_ _ **Persassy**_ _at 4:58_

 **Persassy** : where r u

 _1 new message from_ _ **NicolaDiAngelic**_ _at 5:01_

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Chocolate or vanilla

Leo sighed. He typed out an answer to both of his overprotective parents (although one's interests seems more warped with flavors)

 **Persassy:** where r u

 **HotStuffRepairs:** abuela's bakery

...

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Chocolate or vanilla

 **HotStuffRepairs:** strawberry

Leo glanced up at Jason, who was messaging someone on his own phone. By the looks of Jason's face, it didn't seem to be such a great conversation.

The bell over the front door jingled, and Leo hopped off the counter. No need to ruin Abuelita's bakery with his careless mistakes.

After Jason finished a customer's demand of a few donuts, Leo slid to the other side of the counter (which he was actually supposed to be anyway) and leaned on his elbows. Head in hands, Leo asked a question.

"Hey, Jason. How long do you work today?"

"Huh?" Jason tore his gaze from the sink. "Oh, uh I came in at like 9, so... I'm supposed to be leaving now actually. I'm just cleaning up, and I'll have to change in the back room."

Leo waited patiently (not really, by the time Jason came out, Leo chewed up nearly 5 straws and ate about 5 packets of zero-calorie sweetener) and when Jason came out, he wolf whistled.

It wasn't like Jason was dressed as something extremely scandalous. The blue-eyed teenager was just wearing a T-shirt and some black jeans. It was the T-shirt that caught Leo's attention.

Leo slapped a hand on Jason's back who rolled his eyes.

"See, I knew it was no coincidence that you found the screw! You're actually are Superman. That symbol on your shirt can't disagree." Leo wiggled his eyebrows and Jason laughed.

"Sure thing, Leo. Whatever you say."

Leo whined loudly, as a new employee filled in Jason's spot. The employee was no other than Hazel from French.

Leo couldn't say anything, but a simple _hey babe_ before being ushered out by Jason.

"Aw man, you sound like Piper now. Are you sure it's a good idea for you two to be on a date together?" Leo joked and Jason ignored Leo's comment.

"Let me walk you home. I wanted to see your parents anyway." Jason mumbled, and Leo grinned.

"Oh _Clark!_ Isn't it a little too early for you to meet _mi padres?_ We haven't even gone a first date, my, my is this how Clark Kent treats a lady like myself?" Leo cried, dramatically and Jason smirked.

"Oh _really_? I guess you wouldn't mind doing things couple's do, like going clothes shopping?"

"Of course not! Pick any time, any day." Leo looked Jason up and down. "Are you wearing that on your date?"

Jason looked down, then shrugged. "I guess? It might get a little cool, so I'll bring a jacket." Then Jason's smirk appeared again as he looked Leo up and down. "Oh, _Louis Lane_ , I do hope you like underwear shopping? You look like a D cup, my dear."

Leo gasped as they waited for the signal to cross the street. " _D cup!_ Did you just say I have _man boobs?_ Moobs, Jason! _Moobs_!" Leo cupped his hands in front of his chest to emphasis his dilemma.

Jason looked at Leo. Leo looked at Jason. The two burst out laughing as they crossed the street. The two teens joked as they made their way to Leo's home.

* * *

Jason blinked when he saw how rich of a neighborhood Leo lived in.

"Well come on." Leo reached out to pull on Jason's hand to usher him along, as the walked down the street. Leo's warm hand met Jason's cooler one, and it was interesting feeling for Leo. Leo decided he like mint-breath-and-cool-hands-Superman-Jason.

Leo's neighborhood, was one of those gated ones, where friendly people lived in expensive houses, with long driveways and fancy cars. The duo passed by a person walking her dog and Leo waved hello, receiving one back.

"Welcome to my home. Uh, don't worry about my parents, they'll probably like you." Leo mumbled and then under his breath, he added a :"You've already met my dad."

"What?" Jason asked and Leo shook his head as he pulled out his keys. His keys were very special to him and had a key for:

1\. His house (duh)

2\. The Auto Shop (Leo liked staying after hours working on stupid projects)

3\. A key from his mother (it used to be for his mom's, and it was for their old apartment)

4\. His bike chain (although there was no point, the lock was busted anyway, but it looked like it was locked, so Leo just prayed no one further observed)

5\. His box of super private things that no one knows about (surprisingly it wasn't filled with cheap porn, but instead with memories of his mother and biological father and the rare few good families he was being fostered in)

"Dads, I'm home with a friend!" Leo announced and something crashed in the kitchen.

Leo took one look at Jason, before grabbing his hand again, and dragging Jason to the kitchen.

Inside was his Papa glaring at Percy, who was covered in flour and was liking red frosting from his fingers. The kitchen was an absolute mess, but thankfully, on the stove there was an unharmed cake, yet to be frosted. Leo breathed a sigh of relief. The cake was _safe_ (so was his parents, them too, but so was the _cake_ ).

"I swear to God, Percy. You better tell me you did _not_ just eat all the icing." Nico threatened, waving a black plastic spoon. Nico must have upgraded from spatula to spoon.

The other male stuck out a cherry red tongue and Nico's eyes narrowed before noticing Leo and Jason's arrival.

"Oh. Hello Leo, who is this? Nico asked calmly, turning his back to Percy. Percy's eyes widened. Oh _hell no,_ his husband _so_ did not just _stick up the middle finger at him_. Percy was deciding how to retaliate the _extremely offensive_ motion when Leo spoke up.

"This is Jason. Jason meet my parents, Papa, and Dad." Leo gestured to each person respectively.

Jason waved and Nico nodded. Percy glanced up, rudely uninterested.

Nico waved the boys off. "Now go, go, I need to deal with this _menace to society_ here."

Leo grabbed Jason's hand again, and dragged Jason to the living room.

"Sit here. You have a hot date to go to, and I have a jacket for you."

It took Leo five minutes to find the red and white Letterman jacket. Leo shoved it in Jason's face.

" _Here,_ I just noticed the time so _go go go!"_ Leo shoved Jason out the door, who protested.

In all honesty, Leo released this was a terrible trip for Jason, but Leo was okay with relaxing on his couch.

He shot a quick message to both Piper and Jason:

 **HotStuffRepairs:** Good luck on your date.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **TOBEADDEDSOON AAAAAAH**

 **A/N: AHHHHHHH I'm in a rush to publish this, because I realized that I might not have a chance to type on Friday or Sunday/Monday. If I do, then BAM you get an extra chapter in the same week, you must be so proud of my commitment.**

 **Bleh. Speed typing a/n's are so much work.**

 **I'll write a new one later on. someday. maybe never.**

 **Bleeeeeh.**

 **I was laughing when I wrote this because there were _SO_ many parts that could've turned this from T to M rating. This looks to be the most LeoxJason chapter I've wrote so far, but more are too come (probably)**

 **Lemme just say. I'm stupid and Moobies is probably a real word. maybe. (it's not)**

 **Keep smiling, guys :) {also review and stuff }**

 _ **AHHHHHHH ALMOST**_ **FORGOT:**

 **1\. The song titles are extremely pointless, I was just listening to them as I wrote so shuuuush**

 **2\. Flashbacks are super random at times, others are not. Depends. it give totally cute mini percy's back story, and I WILL do lil nico's too**


	6. Okay Leo spoonings kinda gay

Leo didn't have a chance to contact neither Piper or Jason until Monday.

He had spent his birthday quite nicely, ending it with a _Lord of the Rings_ marathon. Somewhere in between that night and Sunday, Leo lost his phone. His ADHD wasn't helpful with remembering where he put it and Leo was too lazy to go treasure hunting for it anyway.

Turns out it was in Leo's dirty jeans and Percy almost washed it with the dark clothes. Maybe it would've been good, because Lord know how many times Leo touched it with oily fingers. Regardless of condition, Percy gave it back and Leo had set it to charge.

Waking up Monday was okay. Leo managed to wash his hair, which was an added plus, and he also figured his deodorant was stench free (thank God, Nico bought him a new one, the other was _funky_ ).

Today in French, Leo saw Juniper.

Juniper was really nice and sweet, but struggled with speaking French. However, she could write it extremely well, with proper grammar and everything.

" _Hello, gorgeous, my name is Leo._ " Leo flirted in French and Juniper's eye's widened.

"Er- _my name is Juniper,_ and uh- _bonjour Leo?"_ Juniper stumbled over her words, and Leo laughed.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Don't make fun of her."

Leo snorted. "Don't tell me what to do. Where's Hazel, anyway Baby Cheeks." Frank had really chubby cheeks that Leo wanted to pinch. But that would be weird, but then again, this is _Leo_.

Frank turned red and stared at his lap. "Home. She said she didn't feel up to coming."

Leo frowned and Juniper nudged him, passing note.

: _They had a fight the other day_ :

"Ah." Leo murmured and slapped a hand on Frank's back. "It's okay, you'll get her back, Tiger!"

Frank blushed and pushed Leo away.

* * *

Calculus had Jason.

"Sup my man. How'd it go? Terrible, amazing, tell me something, _amigo._ " Leo said, sliding into his seat.

Jason sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. "Can we just work on this worksheet?"

Leo shrugged. "Sure, I'll copy you later. Just give mt the details."

Jason ignored him.

* * *

"Jassssssssssson." Leo poked his pencil in Jason's side.

The blonde's hand swatted at it, making a mark on his paper.

"Jaaaaaaaaaaaason." Leo poked Jason's nose.

Jason scrunched his nose up, and scratched at the offending pencil.

"Jason. Jason. Jason." Leo chanted as he poked Jason's neck.

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair.

"Jasoooooooooooooooooooooon." Leo said, touching Jason's face with his entire hand.

"Yes?"

"Tell me what happened." Leo demanded.

"Nothing much okay?" Jason turned to look at Leo. "Just Piper and me were... awkward? I don't know how to say it that fits more."

Leo gasped and flapped his hands around like an idiot. "Well that's no good!"

Jason shrugged and Leo narrowed his eyes."Fine. Be like that. I'm trying to fix _your_ relationship. _Dios Mio._ "

Jason snorted. "Good luck then. I hope you can make me get in some kind of a relationship.

* * *

Leo skipped school for the rest of the day, claiming he was sick as a real reason was to avoid the History quiz that was scheduled for later that day.

He stayed home, watching TV and doing nothing.

At exactly 4:01, someone knocked on the door. Leo looked through the peephole, to find his two closest friends.

"What up, _mi amigos._ How's school?" Leo welcomed them inside.

Piper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She looked super snazzy in her little leather jacket and red top. "You didn't actually throw up in the bathroom, did you Leo?"

Leo shook his head. "Nope."

Piper sighed and smiled. "Great to see your mischief didn't stop when you got detention for a week."

Leo gaped." Oh hell no! Why would something as little as that, stop me?"

Jason held up a plate covered with another one. "Bought you a slice of cake from the bakery. We stopped there on the way here."

Leo accepted it and moved towards the kitchen. "Aw man, you didn't have to! We had lots of cake left over from Saturday." Leo muttered, bending over to find space in the fridge.

Jason shrugged.

"So, can't wait for the water park trip on Saturday." Leo beamed, rubbing his hands together.

Piper rolled her eyes and reached in a cupboard for a cup."I'll wear a bikini just for your pleasure Leo."

Leo let out a low whistle and wiggled his eyebrows at Jason."See Jason, this is how you get the ladies. Just look at the pros." Leo said, pointing his thumbs at himself.

Jason chuckled, and Piper sighed at the terrible words coming out of Leo's mouth.

After Piper took a drink of whatever weird thing (probably water) she found in Leo's fridge, the three friends were found upstairs, watching a movie on Piper's laptop. Piper jumped on the bed, claiming the entire thing as her territory, and Leo yelled at her to take off her sneakers.

Piper stealing the bed, left Leo and Jason sitting next to each other on the floor. The two shared a thin blanket, and a bowl of popcorn as Piper deviously stole her own gigantic bowl of popcorn from Leo's kitchen.

The movie was a horror one, and Piper laughed at every scare, while Leo nearly pissed his pants. Jason just watched the movie with no reaction, but Leo could've sworn he heard Jason snicker every time Leo jumped.

It was in the middle of arguing over the next movie when one of Leo's parents knocked.

"Dinner's ready- whoa, guess we're gonna need some more plates." Percy opened the door, as the three teens stared at him. "Are they staying over?" Percy crossed his arms, leaning on the door.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Duh, I always stay over."

Percy stuck out his tongue and stared at Jason, "Shush Miss Princess. How about you, dear."

Jason turned red when he saw everyone waiting for an answer. "Uh... I'll ask my sister. She's at work right now, so it wouldn't matter if I stayed for dinner."

Percy nodded. "Alrighty then. Leo, figure out sleeping arrangements while I'll go tell your father about the newcomers."

Leo nodded as Percy left the room. He swallowed a handful of popcorn.

"Alright." Leo said, wiping his hands on his sweatpants. "Jason, you can have my bed. Piper, guest room. I'll take the floor."

Piper grunted as Jason protested, "No, _I'll_ take the floor. It's your bed."

"But your _my_ guest. Hospitality and all that jazz, man." Leo waved his hands dismissively. "Anyway, we need to go and eat. I'm hungry."

Piper threw a piece of popcorn at him. "Hungry? I know for a fact that you just ate an entire bowl of popcorn."

" _Noooo._ Jason had some too."

"No he didn't. He was eating mine because of all that salt you put on yours." Piper stuck out her tongue and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

* * *

After eating dinner, Piper stole some of Leo's clothes to change, Jason went in the kitchen to call his sister, and Leo started his homework. He didn't even have much work except for that _annoying_ math teacher who doesn't like Leo, ever since Leo's first day. Great.

By the time Leo was done, Piper had taken a shower for some reason, and Jason was looking through Nico's closet for something to sleep in.

"Well, night bro." Piper mumbled, stealing one of Leo's pillows to sleep in the guest room. It wasn't like the room didn't have pillows, Piper just decided that she hated the white pillows in the room, and preferred Leo's amazing red pillows that have Red Hot candies inside the case. At least that's what Leo thought.

And then there were two.

Much to Jason's chagrin and Leo amusement, Nico only had a _Batman_ shirt.

"Aw, Papa didn't have Superman? What a shame, really." Leo snickered as Jason rolled his eyes.

Leo had thrown a few blankets on the floor and a pillow. He snuggled up, wrapping himself in a cocoon. "Hehe, I'm a spicy hot burrito." Leo said to himself, rolling around.

Jason blinked. He wasn't sure why his friend was rolling around on the floor, giggling to himself.

Jason scooped up his arms, to lift up Leo who yelped something about _only girls get picked up like this, Jason Grace if you don't put me down I will burn you._

Jason threw Leo on the bed, and Leo fell on his face. "I told you, I'll sleep on the floor." Jason snorted and Leo growled.

"No way Jose." Leo said, forcing his burrito body to roll off the bed with a _thump_.

Jason sighed and picked up Burrito-Leo, dropping him back on the bed. "Stop it Leo."

"No." Leo rolled his body off and onto the ground.

* * *

At the end, they decided that it would've just been easier to have both of them in the bed, or both of them on the floor. Leo kind of knew his floor wasn't comfortable, and Jason slid in under the sheets.

Leo stayed as a burrito, figuring that going underneath the sheets was _gay._ And Leo wasn't gay no matter what Piper said (hey! Leo liked girls).

"Night Jay." Leo muttered, heat radiating off of his bundle of blankets.

Jason was already sleeping away, subconsciously moving towards the warmth of Leo's bundle. Not that Leo minded, bro's need to chill in each others heat occasionally. That's _definitely_ not gay, just apart of the bro code. Yeah, _the bro code._ Piper would call it gay, but then again, Piper wasn't apart of _the bro code_. So ha ha Piper, Leo had the final laugh.

Leo's mind rambling, lured him to sleep, and he found himself dreaming about Jason and Piper and their amazing friendship.

It was a nice dream, but it slightly made Leo feel uncomfortable. Something about Leo and Jason and Piper being friends, made Leo feel weird. It was like a Freudian slip, but in dreams. Was that possible?

When Leo woke up in the middle of the night, he found himself with Jason's arms in a tangle, and his and Jason's legs in a tangle. His burrito unwrapped, damn it. Leo felt weird, being in the position (mainly because staring at Jason's Batman covered chest made it hard to breathe) and turned with his back to Jason's chest. The blond's arms wrapped around appropriately, that made Leo feel like a little spoon.

It wasn't too bad for Leo to be in, so he closed his eyes, and fell back to sleep.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **/zilch, nada, non\**

 **A/N: And here we reach the shortest chapter, and probably will _stay_ the shortest chapter. I just had writer's block? No, not really, I was too busy writing another story on Ao3 that sort of became a priority. The other only became a priority because this one doesn't have too many reviews anymore. :( **

**Of course, sent out early because I'm heading out the state for some business.**

 **Also: I think I have officially decided JasonxLeo. Sorry Jasper fans, but Valgrace, due to the lack of Valgrace fics out there (well ones for you English readers I guess, there are plenty of Espanol ones)**

 _ **JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS NEARING 20,000 WORDS. hellyes accomplishment for my pjo fics on here :D**_


	7. Let's talk Piper

Waking up was an... _experience._

By experience, Leo elbowed Jason in the face.

It wasn't his fault really. Leo didn't usually wake up to someone breathing on his neck, with their arms around him. Leo's eyes widened, and he had thought that _oh my god was i actually kidnapped_. So his instincts kicked in, and he thrust his elbow back, causing Jason to wake up and fall off the bed.

Leo peered over the bed, not sure whether or not to help Jason. It was an _accident_. Leo would never hurt the blond. Unless Jason was a rapist who kidnapped adorable Latinos. Then Leo would let all hell loose. But Jason wasn't that was he? _Dios Mio_ , Leo remembered that one time Leo took Piper's phone and Jason had said Leo was _cute_. Oh god, Jason was probably a pedophile in disguise. That makes sense, _why else_ would he be snuggling up to Leo?

Jason's cursing pulled Leo out of his thoughts.

"What the hell-?"Jason touched under his nose, and pulled his fingers back to stare at blood.

 _Shit._ Leo thought as Jason looked up to stare at Leo.

"Uh, Leo, care to tell me why I have a bloody nose?" Jason asked, wiping blood from his upper lip.

Leo choose to ignore Jason's question to dig into his book bag. How do you tell your friend you thought he was a rapist, an went all _kung fu_ on him?

"Ah, here we go!" Leo said pulling something out of his bag. "Here, Jason, I'll make it all better."

Jason blinked as Leo placed a _Disney Princess_ band-aid over the bridge of Jason's nose and gave Jason a big hug. If Jason looked cross-eyed, he was able to see _Sleeping Beauty_ dancing around regally.

"You'll be okay Jay." Leo said, hugging the blond tightly.

"Leo."

"Shush Jason, you'll ruin the moment an your nose." Leo mumbled.

"Leo."

"Jesus Christ, Jason, what is so important where you have to interrupt such a _beautiful_ moment? Are you dying? No, I think not." Leo said, pulling away and shaking his head. "Gosh, Jason if you're such a moment destroyer then just say it."

Jason stared at Leo, who was astonished by what a moment breaker Jason was. Not only was Jason a _closet rapist_ but he was also a _dream crusher_. Jason gave Leo a look as he choose his next words slowly.

"Leo,"Jason said slowly, trying not to get blood in his mouth. "This is not how you fix a bloody nose. Putting a band-aid on the top of it, does not fix it. At all."

Leo narrowed his eyes at Jason. "I dunno, it looks fine to me."

Jason sighed and got up, to go to the bathroom to _actually_ fix his bleeding nose. Leo watched as Jason left, and changed his shirt. _Ew_ , Jason got his blood on Leo's shirt, talk about _unsanitary_. It was a shame, Leo did like his Superman shirt.

Leo threw on a pair of clean sweatpants and slid down the banister for breakfast. It was Tuesday which meant school was a thing Leo had to go to. Downstairs, Piper was dressed, ready for school, and Nico was dressed for work,pouring coffee. Percy had his face in his cereal, still snoring away. Leo wasn't surprised, his dad could sleep for years and still feel tired.

"Morning Pipes." Leo said, pouring cereal into a bowl.

Piper winced at the color an sugar invasion inside of Leo's bowl. "Good morning. How'd you and Jason sleep?"

Leo nearly choked on his cereal."Oh you know. I slept nice. Jason probably slept nice too."

Piper nodded and peeled away at an orange. Leo didn't even know they had oranges in their house.

Jason came down right before Leo slipped his bowl into the sink. He had toilet paper stuffed in his nose, making Leo snort before rushing out the room. No need hearing Jason's confusing explanation while Leo knew exactly what happened.

* * *

The week flew by in a matter of minutes. Leo hardly registered the week. All he could remember on Friday night was to _avoid Octavian with chili cheese fries_. Leo's chili smelling shirt hanging in his laundry basket gave him a clue what happened.

Leo flopped on his bed. He was home alone, due to Papa staying at work late, and Dad visiting a friend. The friend was Ms. Chase, who Leo didn't mind too much. Ms. Chase came by during the holidays and sometimes invited Leo's family over. She was Percy's best friend and somehow ex (Leo wasn't really told much about his parents childhoods), and liked to play with Leo's building blocks when he was little.

Ms. Chase was actually the reason why Leo lived where he does. Ms. Chase works at Leo's old orphanage, and the day they met she promised Leo that he would find a loving family. And he did.

Leo sighed, and flicked open his Dad's laptop. Leo's own laptop was downstairs, and he was just too lazy to get it, so he walked down the hall to his parents room to get this one.

 _Shit, password_. Leo rolled his eyes and typed in the first thing that came into mind.

' _UnderTheSea'_ Password Invalid.

' _underthesea'_ Password Invalid.

Well, Leo was officially stuck. Stupid Percy, with his stupid not-obvious-passwords. Leo tapped the 'n' key lightly, making sure not to actually press it. Hmm, maybe it was a birthday?

' _August18'_ Password Invalid.

Was that his father's birthday? Crap, did that make Leo a bad son?

' _August19'_ Password Invalid.

' _August20'_ Password Invalid.

' _August21'_ Password Invalid.

Leo huffed out and his hair flew up from in front of his face. His eyes trailed off the screen and fell on a picture frame of Leo and his adoptive parents on his desk. It was taken at a carnival, a few days after Leo's tenth birthday.

' _NicoandLeo'_ Password Accepted.

Leo grinned, and pulled up an Internet browser. He logged into his chatting account and sent a message to Jason.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yo jay whats up

Jason wasn't online, but Piper was apparently. The minute Leo sent the message, Piper shot one at Leo.

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** sup

 **BeautyQueen:** Care to come over?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jeez i just managed to log into this

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ugh let me shut this down and go mobile

 **BeautyQueen:** Great.

 **BeautyQueen:** Still have leftover cake?

 **BeautyQueen:** Bring some.

 **BeautyQueen:** We have an emergency.

 **BeautyQueen:** We have a code pink.

 **BeautyQueen:** I repeat. We have a code pink.

 **BeautyQueen:** Are you walking, or bike?

 **BeautyQueen:** I don't wanna open the garage.

 **BeautyQueen:** I'm really nice and comfy here on my bed.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay i get it, stop spamming you bum

 **BeautyQueen:** Nah.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im walking right now

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im too lazy to ride my bike

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you live like a block away why would i even ride my bike

 **HotStuffRepairs:** still need to get my daily dose of exercise in you know

 **BeautyQueen:** Remember Code Pink!

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait which one is that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** is that the one where somethings broken and you want me to fix it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** or is it the one where you want me to go to the store

 **BeautyQueen:** Neither. It's worse.

 **BeautyQueen:** Fashion Emergency.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh no

 **HotStuffRepairs:** raise the alarms

 **HotStuffRepairs:** someone call the government

 **HotStuffRepairs:** we need the president here stat

 **BeautyQueen:** Shut Up.

 **BeautyQueen:** By fashion emergency, I mean Drew's in my closet, and we can't find a swim suit.

 **BeautyQueen:** For tomorrow.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait is drew the hot sister

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** nah

 **HotStuffRepairs:** all your sisters are pretty hot

 **BeautyQueen:** Half-Sisters Leo.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you got two sisters and a brother

 **HotStuffRepairs:** thats more than i got

 **BeautyQueen:** Half-siblings.

 **BeautyQueen:** I, myself, am an only child.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah i remember their names now

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hot-asian-bitchy drew

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hot-eldest-sister silena

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hot-braces-twin lacey

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hot-male-twin mitchell

 **HotStuffRepairs:** that last one is not gay i can just acknowledge my fellow hot bro

 **HotStuffRepairs:** we hot bros stick together

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo, you're just digging your "not gay" grave deeper and deeper.

 **BeautyQueen:** How's it down there in denial hell

 **HotStuffRepairs:** pretty sweet i can see my papa here in hell

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo, you do realize that Lacey and Mitchell are 13

 **HotStuffRepairs:** theyre still hot

 **BeautyQueen:** That's wrong Leo.

 **BeautyQueen:** Should I even let you in my house? You'll just touch my pure siblings.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** actually jason is a rapist

 **HotStuffRepairs:** not me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hey is your hot mom home

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo I will personally burn you.

 **BeautyQueen:** Do you hear that? I think Silena's cooking over the stove. It would be a shame if we had Leo soup instead of whatever she's making.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** itll be the best damn soup youll ever eat thats what itll be

 **BeautyQueen:** She's not here Leo. Only me and my siblings.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh sweet maybe i can make a move on your hot sisters

 **BeautyQueen:** Maybe you want to get slapped in the face by Drew.

 **BeautyQueen:** The only one who you can date is Mitchell, and that's because both of you like guys.

 **BeautyQueen:** Besides, you know he has this really creepy obsession with you.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** stop saying that im super straight

 **HotStuffRepairs:** like a ruler do you hear me beauty queen

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and im not surprised he has an obsession i would too if i saw someone this hot

 **HotStuffRepairs:**...i always try to avoid him whenever im over

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its like he always finds me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** kid has good taste but hes practically my stalker when im there

 **BeautyQueen:** Uh, try to avoid both of the twins actually. They're both in a moody funk.

 **BeautyQueen:** You know how it is, when one is pissed, so is the other one.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay so only talk to you drew and silena got it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh hey im outside your front door

* * *

Leo looked up from his phone to see Lacey open the door. Great, one of the only few people to avoid he came face-to-face with.

"Hi." Lacey opened the door widely, and Leo slid in. Lacey slammed the door shut.

"Hey, where's Piper-"

"Upstairs." Lacey crossed her arms, and pulled her headphones on over her head. The thirteen year old, stomped up the stairs with Leo trailing behind her.

"We do not _stomp_ in this house!" A voice chided from downstairs, and Leo assumed it was Silena cooking.

"Leave me alone, you're not mom!" Lacey screamed, purposely opening her bedroom door and slamming it close behind her. From within the shared room with Mitchell, Leo heard the sound of heavy punk and extremely loud drumming. Ah, yes, Leo can see what Piper meant by the two being in a funk.

Leo started down the long hallway. He never really understood why the two twins needed to share a room, when there were enough guest rooms for the entire nation. Piper had mention something about the two needing to develop separate identities, but they preferred being together.

Piper and Leo both lived in the tiny community known as West River Valley. No one really knew why it was called that as there were no rivers, and they weren't to the west of anything really, but it simply was named that. West River Valley was a little area that was surrounded by a low brick fence and a iron gate.

Where Leo lived, there were huge expensive houses, each about two to four stories high. Leo lived in a more modest two stories if you didn't include the basement or the attic. However, if you were to go more inward, you would hit the mother load of rich people in mansions and limousines. Which was where Piper lived. Piper and her siblings didn't live there just on their mother's newly employed teaching job as a French high school teacher.

Standing in front of Piper's door, was like getting ready for war. If what Piper said was true, then it'll be a war zone, with the feisty Drew as an opponent.

"Piper... I'm coming in now." Leo stepped inside, and his guess was right.

There was clothes _everywhere_. Leo tried to ignore the bra on the lampshade, and focused on a frazzled looking Piper. Piper was sitting on her bed, watching as her half-sister shuffled through clothing.

"Hmm, you don't even look good in leopard _or_ cheetah!" Drew muttered, tossing clothes behind her. "I can't stand your dumpster clothes, Piper. Everything in here goes in the inferno. Make your pyromaniac friend burn it for you."

"I'm right here, you know." Leo called, and Piper swung her head.

"Oh thank god Leo, get this girl out my room." Piper pleaded, picking up some of her clothing.

Leo wasn't looking to get slapped today, but he knew he needed to save his friend.

"Hey Drew." Leo wiggled his eyebrows as Drew spun around. His arms opened up, ready to hug, and Drew's palm smacked into Leo's cheek.

"As if, punk." Drew narrowed her eyes, and turned at the heel, closing the door behind her.

Leo winced as he touched his reddening cheek. "Ouch, I think one of her nails scratched me."

Piper threw a band-aid at Leo. "Sorry bro. Now help me find a bathing suit."

* * *

Leo called his parents to say he was staying the night at Piper's. His parents agreed, but if only there was a responsible adult nearby. Leo wasn't to sure if Silena counted as responsible, but technically she was a legal adult at 22, so Leo hastily replied with ' _yes of course Papa.'_

It had come to the point in which Piper had two bathing suits on her bed, and Leo was busy picking up a few of the rest of the clothes.

"How about," Leo huffed, plopping down on the floor. "You wear no clothes?"

Piper threw a pillow at Leo, and nailed him in the face.

"Hmm, which one would you wear, Leo?" Piper hummed, and gestured to the bathing suits.

"Definitely the Americanized one. Shows off my hot bod, and my patriotizism."

"That's not even a word."

"It is now."

Piper rolled her eyes, and threw the bikini at him. "Alright, you wear that one and I'll wear this one."

Leo blinked, and shoved it back. "Ugh, I'm not a _girl_! And how come you get the one piece?!"

Piper shrugged. "Don't you want to show off that hot body you claim to have? Now you can do it stylishly. Look, it even comes with a little American flag skirt."

Leo crossed his arms. "No _thank you_. I'll stick to my trunks."

Piper looked like she wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by a yell from downstairs.

"Dinner's cooked!"

Leo took one look at Piper, before dashing down the stairs. He loved eating dinner at Piper's house.

Being one of the only boys, Leo was surrounded by lots of lovely single ladies. And Mitchell... but he was _always_ surrounded by Mitchell whenever he was over.

Leo took the seat at next to the head of the table. Lacey was already sitting across from him, and Mitchell was sitting next to her. It seemed like both of them weren't as moody as before, because they were giggling and passing a game system between each other.

Lacey and Mitchell were opposites in a way that complimented each other perfectly. When they were little, Leo remembered how they would always dress the same way, and played together constantly. As a 13 year old, Piper was sometimes forced into a pseudo babysitting role to babysit the two 9 year olds. Now that they were 13, the two were able to take care of themselves.

Lacey had taken a more girl-like way shortly after starting puberty, but she still liked video games and sports. Currently, Mitchell was going through a punk phase, that made Silena constantly mother hen over his mental health. Especially after that day when he said he wanted her permission for a tattoo. Leo had never seen someone faint before, but he could tell that Silena fainting was like watching the Queen of England dying. Terrifying.

Piper slid into the seat next to Leo, as Silena dished out food. "Hmm, Leo, can you move over a bit? We have a guest coming over."

Piper looked up. "Mom?"

Silena shook her head as she poured drinks. "No, sorry. Someone else."

Mitchell stuck out his tongue. "It's her boyfriend."

Silena shook her head and hummed lightly. "Not really."

Drew came in from the kitchen, glaring at Silena, who sat at the head of the table. As Drew sat down, the doorbell rang, causing her to groan and get back up.

She returned a bit later with a young man, who waved in a greeting and sat next to Silena and Leo.

"Thank you, Charlie." Silena pecked him on the lips and smiled.

Charlie, was in fact Charles Beckendorf. Leo knew who he was through connections at the auto body shop. Apparently Charles had worked there earlier, but left in an effort to finish high school. Everyone at the body shop said he was an extremely nice person, and was a fantastic worker. Leo had only met him a handful of times, but the two talked for hours and hours about building and tinkering.

The group of seven ate peacefully, and chatted excitedly. Leo had to stop Silena and Drew from going on and on about the newest boutique opening up, and Piper had to stop Leo and Charles from talking on and on about this new car, and how much they wanted to take it apart and reassemble it again.

They settled on talking to the twins about their school day, when Silena tapped on her cup.

"Me and Charlie have something to say." Charles hands went on top of Silena's and Drew rolled her eyes in disgust.

"We're engaged."

Piper squealed, and Leo had to cover his ears. Honestly, he was happy about his best friend's sister's new arrangement, but he wasn't happy about being deaf.

"Oooh! So many arrangements to do, so many things!" Piper drifted off into her personal wonderland of marriage, and the twins shot questions off at the newly engaged couple.

Drew sipped her soda bitterly, muttering something which Leo thought was stupid. Couldn't she be happy for her sister? Leo figured something happened between the two siblings.

"I'm so happy for you!" Leo said, grinning, and the couple kissed.

* * *

"Go to sleep Leo." Piper mumbled, turning in her bed.

"I can't." Leo admitted, from his spot on the floor. Originally Leo was going to sleep in one of the guest rooms, but after being surprised by Mitchell ( _what kind of 13 year old waited until Leo was laying in bed, and slithered in the sheets with him!?_ ), Leo didn't think he should have taken any chances, and crawled into Piper's room, to lay on her floor.

"Think of sheep. Count sheep or something." Piper yawned, and turned to face the wall.

Leo rolled his eyes and searched for his phone.

"Yes?" Jason sniffed into the phone, and Leo wondered what time it was.

"Sorry, man. Couldn't sleep."

Jason snorted. "Nah, I couldn't either. I've been watching movies until I could."

"Has it worked?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Leo was quite and was sure he Jason hung up, until he heard Jason's slow breaths.

"Hey, Jay? Your still going with us to the water park, right?"

"Of course, bro. Why wouldn't I?"

Leo rolled over, to face away from Piper's slumbering form. "I dunno. Piper wants me to wear a bikini."

Jason didn't say anything for a moment, before hesitating. "Are you?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm not a girl you know."

"I know."

"Good."

"Good."

It was silent again, and Leo found himself getting sleepier. "Actually, I should totally wear it. As a joke, you know."

On Jason's side of the phone there was a rustle, and Leo imagined it was Jason getting ready to go to bed. "Yeah, do it as a joke then. Unless it's pink. Don't do it at all then."

"I'm not injuring my masculinity _that_ much." Leo snorted, and rolled on his back. Piper had a nice ceiling, just the perfect shade of blue.

"Alright. What does it look like then? Give me an image so I could picture it in my head, and know exactly how much masculinity is at stake here." Jason said, and Leo hears more rustling and movement again.

"Red and blue mostly."

The rustling stops. "Like Superman?"

Leo laughs softly, trying not to wake Piper. "No. Like the American Flag. It comes with a little skirt, and it unhooks in the front. Which is stupid, why would you ever unclasp your bikini in the front? Girls are weird."

"I know. Huh. So the American flag- oh _gross_ I think my sister has that. I'm picturing my sister now _ew._ " Jason groans and Leo laughs.

"Heh. What are you doing anyway? I hear lots of movement." Leo questions.

"Oh, that's Thalia. She's moving some of her papers from my room to hers. And I'm snuggling up in the sheets too, so that's happening." Jason whispered, and all the noise stops on both sides.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

It was quite except for the sound of each others breathing.

"I'm getting tired, but I'm too lazy to turn the phone off. At least it's plugged in right now." Leo admitted, yawning.

"It's 2:30." Jason yawns too, but doesn't hang up the phone.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, good night Leo." Jason finally said after listening to Leo breaths, but Leo had already drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Translation:**

 **/I'm not even sure if there are, and I'm not checking\**

 **A/N: Why does it fell like so long since I updated? I update every week...**

 **AH! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S BEEN 20000 WORDS ALREADY? TO CELEBRATE I HAVE A BUNCH OF VALGRACE DRABBLES TO PUBLISH AS AN EXTRA CHAPTER HERE! ...because you know, this is going to end up being valgrace anyway...**

 **-I'll publish it at around in the next hour or so, I just need my friend to reread it because I'm lazy. Shout Outs to that special friend, you know who you are.**

 **Anyway, Happy Early Thanksgiving to you Americans I guess. I dunno, I have American friends who don't celebrate so *shrugs***

 **ohohohohohohon leo's totally going to wear a bikini hehehehehehehehe**

 ** _Edit [January 2016]: Hahaha no, about that chapter mentioned above, hahaha i put it as a new story as of today._**


	8. Bikini's are for MEN

**I update when I want to update.**

 **I think I mentioned something about Leo being in a bikini. Oh well this madness happens, no hate. Leo can dress however he wants, and still look good.**

* * *

"Next."

Leo bounced on the balls of his feet and Piper blew another bubble with her gum. Jason huffed as he took a step forward, carrying all the bags.

"I wanna go on the _Monster_! _Oooh_ , we can go on the _Bone Crusher_ together!" Leo said, quickly, not registering how excited he sounded. Leo was _way_ to happy to be at the water park, and couldn't wait to actually get inside. He hasn't been there in a while, and the last time he went, it was rather unpleasant. Leo hoped the employees wouldn't recognize him as the kid who threw up in the pool, and nearly burned down a few signs. Ha ha ha, Leo prayed to every god there was that he wasn't going to get deported out of the amusement park.

"Let's _not_ go on the rides with the scary names." Jason mumbled to himself, and Leo raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong Grace? Chicken?" Leo asked, poking the blond's t-shirt clad chest.

Jason huffed again as the line moved up a few spaces.

"Ugh, this line is taking _forever_." Drew rolled her eyes, and checked her phone.

Piper turned around to face her older sister. "No one asked you to come." Piper said, crossing her arms.

Drew peered at Piper from under her wide brimmed beach hat. The Asian beauty tossed a piece of hair behind her, and placed a manicured hand on Jason's arm. "I came here for the guns show."

Leo grinned, and struck a pose.

"Aw, yeah baby! Like what you see Drew? I bet you do." Leo wiggled his eyebrows, and Drew scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"As if dweeb. I would never like you."

Leo's smile grew wider, and Piper snorted. "Nah, you don't like me. You _adore_ me!"

" _Why,_ you little brat-"

" _Leo?"_

Leo spun around from Drew to see Curly Hair and Man Boy standing a few people ahead in the line. Hazel was waving energetically, even more excited than Leo was, and Frank was holding a lot of stuff, much like Jason was. Hazel waved the group up, and Leo happily accepted the change in line. They were definitely a lot further in line, much to the people behind them annoyance.

"Hi, Leo! Who's this?"

Leo turned to face the group he had. "Jason, my bro-bro. Piper my sis-bro-bro. And Drew, the crazy _bonita_ chic who has a crush on me."

Drew flicked Leo in the ear, and Piper snickered. Jason nodded in Hazel's direction, who blushed.

Frank grunted, and for some reason that started a conversation between Frank and Jason. Leo watched Drew and Piper bicker before turning back to Hazel.

"Why'd you come out today?" He asked, taking another step forward into the line.

"Frank wanted to say sorry for getting upset earlier. I haven't been to a water park before, and today has really good weather." Hazel smiled softly, and pulled out her wallet.

"Oh. That's good, I guess. Why'd he get upset in the first place?"

Hazel had to pause the conversation to pay for her wristband. The large group managed to get wristbands on a discount, due to Drew constant flirtations with the poor pimple-laden employee, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Alright! Score One for the Crazy Leo Fan Girl!" Leo raised his hand for a high-five, and Drew threw up her middle finger. Jason high-fived Leo like a good bro, who didn't want to leave his friend hanging.

"Let's find somewhere to sit, and then get changed." Frank offered and the group simultaneously agreed.

It took nearly ten minutes to find the perfect spot, but they did and it was by one of the many pools, in the comfort of some imported pine trees. Jason breathed out heavily, as he dropped all of the bags on the floor. He sat down on one of the beach chairs, in an attempt to catch his breath. Frank simply placed his and Hazel's stuff in one chair and grabbed his bag. Frank snatched up Hazel's hand for them to grab something to eat.

Drew threw off her shirt, earning a wolf whistle from Leo. "Whoo! You go, Drew! Strut your stuff!"

Drew threw a sandal at Leo's forehead.

Drew and Piper, had been smart and wore their swim suits underneath their clothes, unlike Jason and Leo, who had the _absolutely brilliant_ idea to wear jeans (or in Leo's case shorts) and have their swim suits in a separate bag, causing more of a hassle.

"Don't I look sexy, Jason?" Drew asked, waiting to be fawned over.

Jason shrugged and Leo laughed. _That's what you get Drew_.

Jason grabbed Leo's wrist and dragged Leo to the changing rooms, and found to stalls right next to each other. The only other people in there was a group of toddlers who were running around the room, butt naked. A frustrated teenager was trying to get them all in swimming trunks and floats. Leo felt pity and slid into the stall with his bag.

Hmm, that was strange. Sunglasses, phone, keys, wallet, coupon, pack of gum, screwdriver, lighter, wadded up used tissue- _ew_ \- but no swimming trunks.

Leo shuffled through his back again. _Oh hell no-_

In his bag, was the cursed American flag bikini. With the skirt. _Curse you Piper_!

"Uh, Jason?" Leo knocked on the wall, hoping Jason could hear him.

"Yea Leo? Need help or something?"

Leo made a face. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra-ahem- bathing suit?"

Jason giggled. "What happened?"

It took Leo five seconds to say what happened. "Piper packed the wrong one."

Jason laughed harder. "Oh, yeah, I do. Thalia packed it as a joke."

Leo sighed in relief as he saw a black garment slide across the floor.

"Why would it be a joke- oh god is this a _Speedo_!?" Leo shrieked, unfolding the tiny piece of clothing.

"Yep. It was my dad's." Jason burst out laughing and Leo was sure his scream could be heard in Japan, as he dropped the thing.

"You're telling me. That your old man's _dong_ , touched this?" Leo kicked the offending fabric to Jason's side.

"Yep. There's even two tiny little lightning bolts where your balls-"

" _Stop talking, Grace!_ " Leo screeched at an inhuman frequency.

"Heh. Oh, Thalia, what a clever mastermind. So are you taking it?" Jason's voice came from through the wall between snorts of laughter.

" _Fuck_ no. I'll rather wear this." Leo admitted, pulling out the bikini.

"If you say so." Jason snickered, and the sound of his door opening, alerted Leo. "Just hurry up, dude."

Leo huffed, as he threw off his t-shirt. "Whatever, just don't laugh or nothing."

Jason snickered again, and Leo squirmed his way into the bikini bottom. He stared at the top piece. Did he _have_ to wear it? He didn't have boobs, did he? Leo looked down at his chest. Nah, he didn't have boobs. Unless, he _did_ and wasn't aware of it.

"Jason."

"Yes, Leo?"

"Do I have boobs?"

Jason snorted. "You want to go bra shopping or something?"

"Never mind, you dick."

Leo shook his head, getting rid of his thoughts. He wasn't even really sure why he had the train of thought to begin with. Leo sighed, as he tried to fix the top. It wasn't _that_ bad. The 2-piece was actually rather comfortable and form fitting. The skirt, hid the fact that he was wearing the bottom piece, and was also rather comfortable against his thighs. Girls were so lucky to have things like these.

Leo opened the door, and Jason blinked. Jason wore a red and blue striped pair of trunks, and it had only just occurred to Leo how built Jason was, albeit a little skinnier then Leo imagined.

"Uh... Let's go?" Jason blinked, furiously and Leo rolled his eyes. Jason was acting like he has never seen a guy in a bikini.

"Lets." Leo muttered, dragging Jason behind him. Leo desperately needed a corn-dog to eat out his feelings.

* * *

Piper's mouth widened in an 'o'.

"I see, you actually wore it! You're totally rocking it though." Piper smothered a laugh, as Leo pulled on his sunglasses.

"Hell yeah. Better than you could've Pipes." For some reason, eating three corn-dogs gave Leo a big load of confidence, as Jason shook his head.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Sure thing."

Drew flicked her sunglasses up and gasped. "Leo? I _knew_ you were a girl. And you look so pretty too!"

Leo crossed his arms and flicked her sunhat up with his index finger. "That's cool. I'm still open for us to make out later"

Drew huffed and pulled her sunglasses back down, to continue tanning.

"Jason, you should put on sunscreen." Piper gestured, to Jason's paler complexion, and Leo nodded.

"Mhm, dude. You're going to get a nasty sunburn if you don't." Leo agreed, and pulled out his phone. "I'll take a picture if you do get a sunburn."

Leo snapped a picture of himself and Piper, smiling at the camera. He ignored the two fingers poking from behind his mass of curly hair, and stuck out his tongue.

Jason rolled his eyes, already pouring on the lotion. "I know the cons that come with light skin, guys. I _have_ lived with it for all my life."

Leo shrugged and Piper smirked. "Meh. We only need it to avoid skin cancer really. I always tan with or without, and Leo's weird. He doesn't tan or burn."

"Not even a little bit." Leo said, using his index finger and thumb to illustrate how weird his skin is.

Jason pressed a lotion covered hand on Leo's stomach, who squealed. " _Cold!_ What the-"

Due to Leo's jumping around, he flew backwards into the pool beside them. Piper laughed, and sat on the side of the pool, and Drew snorted.

Jason canon balled into the pool, as Leo's head popped up.

"I hope you feel satisfied with yourself." Leo muttered and Jason laughed.

* * *

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _started chat with_ _ **Persassy**_ _and_ _ **NicolaDiAngelic**_ _at 11:30_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** did you know that boys can be manly with a bikini

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i hope you speak to piper about this

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and ask why your son is in a bikini

 **Persassy:** lol

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Leo, this is your own fault. You should have packed a bathing suit.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** papa stoooooooop i did bring swimming trunks piper switched them

 **HotStuffRepairs:** youre supposed to be on my side

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad im ignoring you now

 **Persassy:** :(

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Now, you have your father upset.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** He is going in the freezer for some pity ice cream right now.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** I advise you apologize before this becomes a pity party of one lonely husband

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hey you met jason before right

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Twice I believe.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Piper's boyfriend I have come to figure out?

 **Persassy:** what are you talking about

 **Persassy:** it is obviously leo's bf

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** stop it

 **Persassy:** see he's not denying it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dad why do you do this to me

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Naturally, I would believe Percy is wrong, but he may be on to something.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** The other day, we looked into you room and we did see you two sleeping together.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what

 **HotStuffRepairs:** stop going in my room

 **HotStuffRepairs:** when im sleeping too

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yours so creepy papa

 **Persassy:** have safe sex! :D

 **Persassy:** use protection! :D

 **Persassy:** i will not have my little girl get preggers :(

 _-_ _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _banned_ _ **Persassy**_ _from chatting-_

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Your father wanted me to tell you that he placed condoms under your pillow.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** He also says that you have a nice eye when it comes to picking out lovers.

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** Remember Leo, if he is your boyfriend, please tell Jason that I used to work at a graveyard, and know how to bury a body properly.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** papa

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why must you both embarrass me like this

 **NicolaDiAngelic:** If only you had my father.

 _ **NicolaDiAngelic**_ _closed chat at 11:39_

* * *

"I'm hungry. Piper go fetch me lunch." Leo complained, rubbing his stomach.

Piper looked at Leo, before looking away. "Actually, I think I'll just stay here in line. _You_ can get us food."

Leo groaned, and turned to Jason.

" _Jasooooooooooon_ ," Leo moaned in frustration, hugging the poor blond. "Buy us food."

Jason looked down at Leo's hair and pushed Leo off of him. "Hugging is weird when you just finished getting off a water ride. Wet skin and wet skin don't go together."

Leo's stomach growled, and he pounded his tiny fists into Jason's chest. " _Jasooooooooon. Please."_

Jason rolled his eyes, and slid out of line. "Fine. I hope you want more corn dogs."

Piper turned around. "Actually I would like a hot dog."

Jason nodded, and walked off. The line moved up forward and Leo placed a hand on Piper's shoulder.

"So _Piper_. How is your relationship?" Leo smirked, and Piper sighed.

"I dunno. Good? Okay? Ask Jason." Piper shrugged and Leo pouted. That was not the answer he wanted. He expected _Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_ or _awesomesauce_ or even _splendiferous_. He was the one who put so much effort into getting them together. Really, it was like Leo was the one in the relationship.

" _Good_? _Okay_? Piper McLean, do you not like this boy?" Leo said sternly, ready to smack some sense into the girl. Leo was pretty sure earlier on that he would take the boy if she didn't want him.

"Yes. But he-"

"Overpriced Corn dogs. And an overpriced hot dog. Overpriced hot dog for Piper, Two overpriced corn dogs for Leo, and an overpriced slice of pizza for me. Enjoy eating my money." Jason Grace appeared, virtually out of nowhere, making Leo jump. Piper smiled, and accepted the hoot dog, while Leo punch Jason's arm.

"You scared me, you dick." Leo muttered, nibbling on the corn dog. Good, at least the blond put ketchup on it.

"It was funny to see you jump, my friend. But be careful, your top might come off." Jason joked, and Leo punched his arm again.

"Why are we not letting this go? Can you let this go? Let it go, jeez." Leo mumbled.

Piper raised and eyebrow, and stepped out of the line. "Lets go, and eat somewhere else. I don't want to get sick on this ride."

Jason shielded his eyes from the sun to gaze up at the ride. "Piper, it's called the _Puker_."

"Yeah! Let's get our money's worth and actually puke on it!" Leo echoed, jabbing his fist in the air.

Then he thought about what he did last time he came here, and brought his fist down. "Actually, you know what, lets _not_ go on this ride, ha ha ha."

Jason shrugged, and bit into his pizza.

The trio had decided to go back to where their stuff was, and much to no one's surprise, Drew was still laying down, with her big hat covering her face. She had a nice tan going, and Leo figured she should flip over sooner or later before getting burned.

"For overpriced corn dogs, they sure can make them good." Leo moaned into his food, and Piper nodded.

Leo snatched Drew's hat, and Piper glanced at the Asian. "She's sleeping." Piper laughed and Leo snorted.

Jason took the hat from the Latino, and dropped it on Leo's head. Piper snatched Drew's sunglasses, and placed it over Leo's eyes. The movement made Leo extra careful at not dropping ketchup on his lap.

"Leo you should be a girl." Piper commented, shuffling through her bag for the drink she had while driving to the park.

"Wouldn't be surprised if someone hits on you." Jason joked and both Piper and the blond laughed. A little harder then it should be, and Leo pouted, folding his arms.

"Aw man, Leo's upset now. It's okay, darling." Piper said, and she stood up to throw her trash away.

"It's fine, I'm just attractive as both genders, and you're just jealous." Leo said when she came back.

Jason nodded. "It's true though."

Piper rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Whatever. Let's play some arcade games."

Leo nodded enthusiastically "Hell yes."

The trio ended up at the bottle toss. With a dollar, Leo had the opportunity to get three rings on a bottle, and get a huge prize. For some reason, Leo forgot that he absolutely sucked at the game, leaving Jason and Piper to watch in amusement at his failures.

"Aw come on! One more try!" Leo complained fishing out another dollar. The employee shrugged, and gave the teenager three more rings.

Leo missed.

He let out an inhuman frustrated noise and bought three more rings again and missed.

Leo tried one more time, and didn't make not a single bottle, but for some reason,the lady gave him a giant stuffed teddy bear.

"I didn't win this." Leo said, confused at the fact he was given a gigantic bear. He fixed his floppy hat, and stared at the lady.

"Yeah, Leo sucks at this, is this a pity bear?" Piper stepped up, and Leo elbowed her in the gut.

"It's from that dude over there." The employee said, pointing to the other side of the stand, and Leo turned red.

Three heads simultaneously turned to catch a look at the guy who so daringly sent Leo a bear, and Leo scowled. _Why did dudes think he was a girl?_

The guy winked, and Piper rolled her eyes.

"I'll talk to him." Jason narrowed his eyes, and Leo turned away.

* * *

Piper and Leo went back to Drew and to their pleasant surprise, the girl was a lobster. Frank and Hazel were done with their date as it seemed, and were trying to help Drew with her... _problem_.

"Oh god, what happened to you?" Leo snickered and snapped a picture, causing Drew to glare at him.

"Shut up!" Drew snapped back, and Piper chuckled.

The group took Drew misfortune as the time to leave, and packed their stuff. Hazel and Frank seemed extra lovey dovey, and giggled a little jokes and gave each other small pecks on the cheek. It made Leo wonder if that was to happen if Piper and Jason got together, which ultimately disturbed him more than he could admit.

Leo threw on his shirt and shorts, not really caring if he was wearing the swim suit underneath. What was the point of changing out of it? Jason came by and questioned it, but Leo just shrugged.

Leo waved bye to Hazel and Frank, and stuck with Piper, Drew and Jason as they stumbled into Drew's convertible.

The trip back was an adventure in itself, that Leo hoped would never be told, until he went to sleep in the car. The last thing he remembered was Jason and him talking about a Coke bottle and it's importance to society.

On Sunday, Leo woke up in his bed, confused. He didn't remember going to his bed, or even leaving the car, but there he was staring up at his glow in the dark stars on the ceiling.

Leo groaned as he rolled over to check his phone. To his pleasant surprise, his phone was right where it normally was, and plugged in.

1:08 PM

5 new messages

"Ugh. Homework day." Leo muttered, burying his face in his pillow. He paused, lifting his head up. Wait, did his phone just say new messages?

 **ThunderandLightning:** I hope you enjoyed your sleep on my arm, last night, Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I hope my arm was comfy for your pleasure Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** Wow, okay, night Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** Hey, can I come over, you forgot your bear thing

 **ThunderandLightning:** Actually never mind, I can't come over. I'll give it to you tomorrow I guess

Leo blinked. Overprotective boyfriend much? Never mind the fact that Jason wasn't Leo's boyfriend. But Leo thought it was sweet, how much Jason wanted to talk.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uh ive never been to your house

 **HotStuffRepairs:** lemme see your living quarters

Jason took only a minute to respond

 **ThunderandLightning:** There's a reason why you haven't came to my house before

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'll just drop it off later

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why cant i come

 **HotStuffRepairs:** youre not a hobo are you

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im so sorry if you are i didnt know

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'm not a homeless person Leo

 **ThunderandLightning:** I have a home

 **HotStuffRepairs:** then let me come over

 **ThunderandLightning:** No

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yes

 **ThunderandLightning:** No

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yes

 **ThunderandLightning:** No

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah

 **ThunderandLightning:** No

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeeeeeeeeeees

 **ThunderandLightning:** No

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

 **ThunderandLightning:** Ugh, fine

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hell yesss

 **ThunderandLightning:** Just.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Don't get your hopes up.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Okay?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what you live in a dumpster

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo! I already told you I'm not homeless.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah i know

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but if you live in a dumpster

 **HotStuffRepairs:** technically the dumpster is your home

 **HotStuffRepairs:** therefore you have a home

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its just a crappy one

 **ThunderandLightning:** Okay Leo

 **HotStuffRepairs:** well how many floors is it

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo. It's an apartment

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** aw sweet you have a penthouse thats pretty cool

 **ThunderandLightning:**...

 **ThunderandLightning:** No Leo. I do not live in a penthouse

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uh is it a big one

 **ThunderandLightning:** No Leo.

 **ThunderandLightning** : I sleep on the couch. It is a rather small apartment.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh thats not that bad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i guess i got so used to having all this money with my dads

 **HotStuffRepairs:** that i forget ive been in bad financial situations too

 **HotStuffRepairs:** alright just text me where you live then

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo your so weird

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i know bro

* * *

 **Translations:**

bonita-pretty

 **A/N: I don't know what happened. I just- ugh.**

 **Anyway, I just need to point out some lovely comments that I _had_ to respond to:**

ANNABETHALWAYS chapter 2 . Nov 23

This is random but on the topic of languages. Here where I live we have to learn Afrikaans or Xhosa and then another language if you want to. It's annoying because who even speaks Afrikaans? No one, absolutely no one. Cool story by the way.

 **\- Uh, that's really weird if you got to an American school? So I'm going to assume you don't lol. I don't know where you live, but I know that most-if not _all_ middle schools through high school offer at least Spanish classes. But I guess learning another language is cool CAUSE YOU CAN CURSE PEOPLE OUT, AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE SAYIIIIING**

AnimeBook'schapter 7 . Nov 22

haha, right J all that rustling what is your sister moving papers? he definitely was getting a hard on and asked if he could picture him in that bikini. I love all of your texting seems they're really funny especially between Piper and Leo

 **-This made me laugh for no reason, cause it was _definitely_ papers *eyebrow wiggle* take the rustling how ever you want, Jason could or could not be lying *shrug*.**

 **Fun Fact: whenever I call someone late at night, there is always rustling no matter what. Even on my side, although its mainly be getting excited that the other person is actually _awake_ when I call**

Guest chapter 7 . Nov 25

Is there going to be anymore with Hazel and/ or Frank?

 **-OH MY GOD, I WOULD LOVE TO ADD MORE FRAZEL. I always wanted to write some Frazel, but chicken out cause I end up thinking about ValGrace :'(**

 **I will, like, owe you a Frazel fic by Christmas. Definitely, I will immediately start working on one just for you. {You just gave me an excuse to write this Coffee shop AU I had in my head, thanks Anon}**

Jupanumachapter 6 . Nov 12

What story did you write on AO3?

 **-Uhhhhh... so what happened was...*blush***

 **It was a Hetalia fanfic for the wonderful RusAme community, and it had to do with soulmate AU {cause I am utterly in love with those}. The formatting on Ao3 ended up being a little crappy because I screwed up a little with the HTML, but I'm too lazy to fix it *shrug***

 **Uh I don't even remember the name for it damn it hold on...okay so "I'm not yours and you're not mine" by read_that_fic**

* * *

It has also appeared that I never added a disclaimer, meaning I am Rick Riordanish

or was it Rickroll Riordan

or was it Rick RiceorDanish

[I think it's obvious that I'm not him, ]


	9. Aiden Schmidt- You ARE the father!

When Jason opened the door to his apartment (Room 19E, Leo noted), Leo rushed inside, wanting to get away from the overwhelming smell of mixed foods from different households, that definitely did _not_ go together. He pushed past Jason, and nearly ended his life by tripping over a cat. Thankfully, the world must face another day with the amazing Leo Valdez.

"Dude. Your carpet is kinda really soft, kinda really not." Leo mumbled into the kinda-brown-kinda-not carpet.

Jason rolled his eyes, and helped Leo up.

"You nearly stepped on my cat." Jason commented, picking up the feline, before disappearing somewhere in the apartment.

"Rude." Leo muttered, and looked around. Jason wasn't wrong to call the place small. The room Leo was in, had to be the living room, as there was a small matching couch and armchair, an unbelievably cluttered coffee table, and a tiny block of a TV. Leo winced, thinking of his own homes flat screens and gaming system. He wasn't even sure if Jason's TV was in _color_.

The room was weirdly unfriendly, as there were no pictures, or paintings, or _anything,_ to show that a family lived there. Leo's home had _way_ too many pictures, as his dads (read: Percy, Nico wasn't really much of a picture dude) felt the need to take many picture to remember moments.

Leo rubbed his slightly injured forearm, and decided to follow the direction Jason had walked in. The apartment had a cozy kitchen, and a dining table shoved in the corner. There were only two chairs and a bunch of roses in a vase on top.

Besides the kitchen, and going down a hallway, Leo managed to find a bathroom the size of a closet, a closet the size of a bathroom for some reason, and two doors facing each other. When Leo leaned in on one side, he heard Jason's voice, talking to a girl, with a slight hiss coming from Jason's demon cat.

"...my friend is here. Just don't come out?" Jason mumbled.

"Don't tell me what to do, Grace." The voice said irritated, and Leo leaned back to look at the other door. There seemed to be no noise on the other side, which peaked Leo's curiosity.

Leo was greatly disappointed when he opened the door, and it turned out to be a plain old bedroom. However, Leo enjoyed the fact that, _damn_ , whoever slept there had a wonderful looking electric guitar, and based on the posters, had absolutely wonderful music taste.

"What are you doing?" Leo jumped, shutting the door, to find Jason with one eyebrow raised. Stupid eyebrow, so condescending.

"Uh, nothing? Anyway, let's do something." Leo waved Jason off, into the direction of the living room.

Leo sat down on the floor, facing Jason who sat on the couch.

Jason gave Leo a look, but rolled his eyes nevertheless. "You shouldn't go in there. Ever again unless you want to die."

Leo nodded. "'Course not! Do you know how to play _Spit_?"

Jason grinned. "I'm a pro."

Leo pursued his lips. "No way! I'm the king here!"

They ended up playing the card game for nearly two hours, rematch after rematch. Then Thalia came out.

"What are you playing? Jason, whose this?" A grumpy voice said, causing Leo to turn around.

Thalia Grace was short. Well, she was taller then Leo, but she was shorter than Jason. She had a bunch of piercings on her ears, and one in her left eyebrow. Her right arm hid some kind of elaborate tattoo and she work all black and blue. Even her was black with blue dyed tips. Leo thought she was really hot.

"Leo Valdez, Badass Supreme." Leo said, extending a fist.

Thalia looked at it and rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but to bump her own fist against his.

"Thalia Grace, the Rock Queen." Thalia said, triumphantly and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up Jason, you can't even play a simple kazoo." Thalia shot at the blond, who looked embarrassed.

Leo swiveled back to face Jason. "The _kazoo_? All you do is blow. Gosh, Jason." Leo laughed and Jason turned red.

"I was seven..." he mumbled and Leo laughed harder.

Thalia walked in the kitchen, but continued a conversation. "Nice to meet ya, Valdez. I've heard _a lot_ about you."

Leo stared at Jason, who tried to look anywhere besides Leo. "I hope it's all _great_ things." Leo said slowly, staring intently at Jason, who was staring intently at a stain on the wall. The stain was shaped a little like a star, to be honest.

"Ha! I've heard more than I should have!" Thalia laughed, and the sound of the fridge opening was heard. "Hey, kid, did you have breakfast?"

"Nah. I was planning on getting something on the way out, as this was supposed to be a five minute trip." Leo replied, reaching up to get the cards off the coffee table. Jason examined his fingernails as Leo stared into his soul.

"Jason where's the headache stuff? I need it, pronto." Thalia spoke again and Jason looked up, his face scrunching up in thought.

"Uh, second cabinet? In the bathroom?" Jason didn't sound to sure, but Thalia practically flew out the kitchen and into the bathroom.

At the sound of the bathroom door closing, Leo raised an eyebrow, and scooted closer to Jason's legs.

"So Jason," Leo tried his best to sound threatening, but failed due to the elevated height Jason had with his chair. "Please share what _things_ you've been telling your sister."

Jason's face turned red. Tomato-face-Jason-who-is-telling-sisters-most-likely-scandalous-lies-about-an-awesome-Leo seemed like an appropriate name for the blond now.

"Uh...nothing important?" Jason said, and Leo raised his eyebrow even higher.

"Really Jason? You seem unsure about it." Leo hoped his aura reads threatening and horrific.

Jason swallowed and slowly nodded, and the bathroom door swung open.

"Now that I'm slowly coming over my hangover, who likes eggs?" Thalia announced, and Jason breathed a sigh of relief, as Leo brightened and screamed out a, " _Hell yeah!_ "

* * *

Leo sighed as he hopped off the bus. After leaving Jason's apartment, he had received a text from Nico, telling him to go to his adoptive grandfather's home to pick up something boring and work related.

Aides Di Angelo, often nicknamed Hades, was a successful businessman. Leo had learned from Nico, that when Nico was young, he lived in a small villa in Italy. Nico's mother, Maria, was left with two children with a constant flow of money for childcare. They never got married, but as far as Nico could tell, they loved each other enough to actually _seem_ married.

Hades had left to find a better career in America, as he had heard the country was perfect for immigrants, legal or not. He left his graveyard job to his family back home, and everything was fine. Nico didn't know there was a girl involved. The girl being a flower shop owner named Persephone.

Persephone Flora, was a young adolescent, just turning to the age of 21, when Hades met her on her trip around Italy. At the age of 23, even with two small children at home, Hades fell in love with her. They spent many forbidden months together, while Maria was left taking care of her two children, the four year old Bianca, and two year old Nico.

When Persephone went back home, Hades was devastated, and went to follow her. Being as he wasn't married, in America, he was legally allowed to marry Persephone, which is what he did immediately. He started up a business and became extremely successful, hitting his first million at 25. He still sent money back to the family in Venice, and Maria never mentioned a thing to her children. She knew what happened, but they didn't.

Then Nico found the papers and emails exchanged between Hades and Maria. At eight, he confronted his mother, and by the end of an argument that even Bianca joined in, Maria Di Angelo was found dead. It was an accident, as the woman ran outside in a storm, and got struck by lightning. Leo didn't ask much about it, because he knew personally that watching his own mother die was extremely painful and heart-wretching.

In shock, Nico rushed outside, and a strike of lightning hit a tree, knocking him unconscious and rendering him into a coma for seven years. When he woke up at 15, he was suddenly in America, with his sister, his father, and one Persephone Flora. Being irrational, Nico lashed out at his father and step-mother, claiming it was both of their faults for why his mother was six feet under ground.

Both Nico and Bianca had a therapist for the next five years. Nico spent his high school years in America, under his father's household, much to his anger. Hades tried hard to make it up to Nico, but never could. Nico got accepted in Harvard, which was 211 miles away from his home in New York City. For Nico, 211 miles was a long enough distance to get away from his family.

Nevertheless, Hades Di Angelo retired with billions to his name, and secretly left his company to Nico. Nico didn't accept the offer, and left it to Bianca, who gladly accepted the company. Nico had wanted to create his own path, one away from his father, and decided on creating his own business. It made money, although not as much as Hades' was worth, but it made millions, proving it successful and made Nico extremely happy with himself.

Now, Hades spent his time staying at his summer home by the beach. He was due to go back to his home in LA, soon enough, but decided to take his time arriving there.

Hades left the door unlocked for Leo.

The lights were off, when Leo walked in, so Leo assumed Hades was sitting on his back porch, looking out unto the ocean in the most dramatic way that could be achieved. Hades may or may not be somewhat of a drama queen. Not that Leo minded.

Leo found Hades on his porch staring at the ocean, with a glass of red wine in his hand. Leo's grandfather _always_ had a glass of wine in his hand, and red just happened to be his favorite. Although, he seemed to have a drinking problem, he never seemed the tiniest bit tipsy. Just, classy.

"Good afternoon Leonardo." Hades said, not even turning around to look at Leo. Hades always knew when Leo was there, as creepy as it was.

"Good afternoon," Leo said politely, sliding into the chair next to him.

The Italian grandfather glanced at him, before looking back out at the families playing on the sand. Leo realized how calming it was to actually be at the beach house. The he noticed something.

"Where's Persephone?" Leo sniffed the air, not entirely too disappointed the lady was gone. Persephone was one hell of a cheeks pincher.

"L.A. She needed to take care of her flower shop, because her mother was staying over. Which is why I'm still across the country, away from them." Hades took a sip of red wine, and Leo smirked.

Persephone's mother was a whirlwind who always tried making Leo recycle and eat whole wheat _cereal_. It was plain to see why Hades didn't like her.

"Of course. Uh, Papa said you had some paperwork to collect?" Leo said and Hades nodded.

"Ah, yes. Go upstairs and check my desk in my office. There should be a file labeled 'Nico's work'." Hades waved Leo off, and Leo bounced back inside the home.

Hades' office was dim and cluttered with folders and cabinets. The desk lamp was the only light in the room, as there were no windows or other lamps.

"Okay, file that says Nico's work. Like finding a needle in a haystack." Leo muttered, shifting through various papers and files.

After what seemed like _forever_ , Leo finally managed to find the stupid folder. He shuffled through it, and was greatly disappointed to find it filled with plain and boring business work effort. He sighed, and tucked the folder under his arm when he saw it.

There was a mildly thick folder wedged between two agenda book under the desk, in what would've been out of sight. Leo has been in the office, plenty of times, but this has been the first time he's ever been on the other side of the mahogany desk.

Leo glanced at the door, and slid it shut, before advancing on to the file. He jerked on it and placed it on the desk, under the light to read the title.

 **Leo Valdez: Adoption**

Leo squeaked slightly, and opened the folder. It was filled with some basic things that Leo has seen before, like how he was born to one Esperanza Valdez, on August 31st, 1998.

There was a picture of his ultrasound which was new. Among that, there were also pictures of himself and his mother, most of which he had a copy of. There was one picture with his father in it.

Leo's biological father, he never knew, but it was plainly written in the papers.

 **Maternal Parent:** Esperanza Valdez

 **Paternal Parent:** Aiden 'Hephaestus' Schmidt

Well then. There was a phone number scribbled out under both of the names. Leo knew why his mother's was, but not his father's. He assumed his father was alive and didn't want him, but apparently he was gone too.

Leo ignored the stinging tears in his eyes as he flipped the page. There was a list of all the foster parents he had ever had, and the current ones, Percy and Nico Di Angelo.

Leo winced as he scanned through the list of past parents he's been with. Some of them didn't exactly leave the best impressions.

Like Mr. and Mrs. Russell. That couple had an obsession with ginger. A really bad obsession with ginger. Gingerbread, ginger snaps, ginger cookies, you name it. It was really weird, because the couple ate them 24/7 and their home smelled like it constantly. But they hated Leo for not eating any of the food. Never mind the fact that Leo was allergic to ginger, and broke out in hives constantly.

Yeah, not exactly the best impression. Leo ran away from there on the second day.

But some left good impressions, like Mr. Dalphers, Ms. Parks, and Mr. Tamaki. They were eccentric in the way that they were a big poly-amorous group. Well actually, Mr. Dalphers and Ms. Parks were actually in a relationship, and had a very frequent threesome with Mr. Tamaki. It was disturbing to hear the noises at night when you're seven. But other then that, they were extremely friendly.

Until the day they added a fourth person, and Leo ran for his scarred life. He was at that house for about four months, really.

Leo shuffled through the papers. There was nothing really interesting to find among them. Leo slipped the picture with his father inside of his pocket. He'll take it home and keep that one for sure.

Leo put the folder back where it belonged, and glanced at his phone. Aw, shit. 6:31. He needed to catch the bus again to get home.

* * *

The week went by surprisingly quickly. Actually, the entire month of September went by quickly. Leo failed and passed tests, and handed in a project late. Oops, he now had a C in his Advanced English class.

October was speeding by pretty fast, and at Leo's school that mean one thing. Halloween.

Halloween was simply the best non-holiday day there was. Leo loved Halloween. Except it was 2 weeks away.

"Ugh. Pipeeeeeeeeeer. Make Halloween come faster." Leo complained, rolling around on the floor.

Piper sighed, and used her rainbow sock clad foot to nudge the boy. "Stop rolling on my floor, it's dirty."

"No. I want _caaaaaandy._ " Leo moaned, and continued rolling on the floor.

Piper sighed again, and closed her laptop. "Go bother Jason. I need to finish my home work."

Leo pouted, and laid on his back, arms and legs stretched out wide. "He's in the bathroom. Peeing. I don't wanna bother a man peeing."

"So you'll rather bother someone else doing home work? Leo, get your priorities straight." Piper glared at Leo, before turning back to her work.

Leo began doing a jumping jack motion.

"What are you doing, Leo?" Piper asked, glancing down at the child.

"Making a snow angel. Duh." Leo said, continuing his motions.

"With what? Dirt?"

"Nuh uh uh. Naughty Pipes. Don't pay attention to me, you should be doing your _homework_." Leo taunted, continuing his snow - _dirt_ \- angels.

Jason opened the bedroom door and blinked. "Uh, Leo?"

Leo glanced at Jason before closing his eyes. "Come. Join me, and make snow-"

"Dirt."

" _Shut up Piper_ \- angels!"

Jason laid on the floor, but didn't get into snow angel making position. He instead placed the back of his head on Leo's stomach.

"You're warm." Jason mumbled, and Leo tried to turn over, but failed.

"Ugh, get off of me! You're going to crush my lungs." Leo gasped out, flailing his limbs.

"It's just my head, Leo."

"Your huge ass head!"

"Thank you?"

Piper threw two pillows at move of them. "Shut up. I'm doing _work._ "

"Sorry Piper." both shunned teenage males said.

It was actually really quiet, until Jason blew a raspberry into Leo's stomach and Leo giggled.

"That's it. Get out, and don't come back in this room for the next hour!"

* * *

"How about the _Three Musketeers_?" Jason suggested, and Leo shrugged.

"Eh. We can do better." Leo replied, changing the channel.

After Piper kicked the two out of her bedroom, they settled in the living room, watching TV. Silena went out with her lover, Drew was out getting her hair done, and Lacey and Mitchell were in their rooms doing who-knows-what. Which was why Leo and Jason had practically the entire house to themselves.

They decided on going out in the pool behind Piper's home, but Leo took one step outside and said, " _fuck no, this is too cold to handle"_.

Leo was laying on the couch, bowl of dry cereal in his lap, with his feet placed in Jason's lap. Jason was sitting down, listing off costume ideas for Halloween. The goal was to find a costume where the three of them can participate.

"How about, _Mario and Luigi_? We can add Princess Peach?" Leo said, shoving a mouthful of cheerios in his mouth.

Jason snorted. "Yeah, you can be the princess."

Leo threw a cheerio at Jason. " _Hell_ to the _no_. You're the one whose the blond here."

Jason laughed. " _Touché._ "

Leo changed the channel again. "We can go all _Disney Princess_ form. You'll be a killer Cinderella."

"What, do you just want to see me in a dress? And you're from the south, you could totally be that chic from _The Princess and The Frog_." Jason commented, and reached for the cereal bowl.

"Hmm, nah, not feeling it anymore. Okay what about Salt Shaker, Pepper Shaker, and a Hot Sauce?" Leo said, stretching his hands over his head, dropping the remote. The TV was now forever set on a documentary on skunks, because there was no way Leo was going to get up, and pick the remote up.

"I get that you're hungry, Leo. Piper _did_ say there were lasagna leftovers in the fridge. And are you going to change the channel?"

"Nah. Watch the skunk show. And anyway, it's perfect. Pipes is salty, your hot, and I'm _muy caliente_."

Jason laughed and tried to reach for the remote without removing Leo's feet. "Okay, how about _no_."

Leo shrugged and was about to say something, if it wasn't for being jumped on.

"Oomph!" Leo cried, as Mitchell sat on his stomach.

"Hi Leo!" Mitchell cried happily, and Leo groaned. _Aw man_ , and he had such a great track record of avoiding the thirteen year old so far.

"Oh. Hello Mitchy." Leo muttered, trying to shove off the kid. Jason grunted, being attacked by Lacey. Ever since Lacey met the blond, she's been following him forever. Personally, Leo would rather be the object of Lacey's crush than the object of Mitchell's crush.

"So I heard you were helping out at the Halloween party. What are you going to be?" Mitchell beamed, and Leo blinked in confusion.

"What Halloween party? I had no idea there was a Halloween party." Leo admitted.

Lacey answered instead. "Oh you know! The one where everyone comes over to our house. Jason's volunteering too!" Lacey said, hugging the blond.

" _What?"_ Leo mouthed to Jason who shrugged.

"No clue bro." Jason said, pushing Lacey off of him.

Leo frowned, and leaned down to pick up the remote. His feet slid off of Jason's lap, and he stood up.

"Mmm, move over." Leo motioned for Jason to sit towards the middle of the chair. Leo plopped down next to him, and put the cereal bowl in Jason's lap. Instantly, the twins flocked either side, and Leo sighed, and flicked through channels. He finally settled on a movie to watch, and Jason nodded in approval.

Mitchell reached over Leo to grab a fistful of cheerios. After eating them, Leo assumed the hand going around him was to get more food, but he was sadly mistaken. The arm stayed around him in a hug.

" _Help_." Leo panicked, and whispered harshly into Jason's ear. Jason was in the same predicament, and the two teenage boys wondered if they would ever see their families again.

Probably not, the way the twins were squeezing them. Leo tried to secretly scoot closer to Jason, and the two bumped shoulders, not sure how to handle the problem arising.

" _Are we going to make it alive?"_ Leo whispered.

" _I'm not too sure."_ Jason whispered back.

" _Oh god._ "

" _Oh god_." Jason agreed.

* * *

 **References:**

 **Note: Fanfiction wont let me put the . -C-o-M, so that's what the *** stands for... and delete the spaces if your trying to look it up! :D**

[1] Aides is another name for Hades apparently { angelfire. ***/nj/persephone/hades}

[2] Fun Fact: Persephone has no other names, that can sound normalish? But she's totally badass because her name means 'Dazzlin Brilliance', or 'Destroyer of Light '{ angelfire. ***/nj/persephone/persephone}

[3] Aiden means fire and Hephaestus is the god of fire so whateves { meaning-of-names. *** ?nm=fire&stype=1&gndr=1&page=1}

[4] Schmidt it means blacksmith and Hephaestus is also a god of blacksmiths so shut up {names. mooseroots. ***/d/i/Blacksmith}

 **Translation:**

muy caliente- very hot (some people use mucho caliente too for some reason okay?)

 **A/n: _This was a super iffy chapter_. I was supposed to work on it on Wednesday, but I got sick. Thursday, I was still puking my guts out, and Friday I had no access to the document. Saturday I went to see a relative. Right now, I'm spending my entire day in bed, because traveling wasn't the best idea for my dumb family.**

 **Anyway. Remember Leo's dad *hint hint* I think I already introduced him before in an earlier chapter, but it was super crazy back then. Ah, remember how I wrote weeks ago? So toddler-ish. XD**

 **Also, we're totally are going to ignore that terrible and blunt time skip, and pretend it's a very nice a beautiful one instead. Ha ha. Anyway, I just wanted to speed things up? Sort of yeah, Sort of no? Can't wait for Thanksgiving chapter where shit hits the fan *hint hint*. OHMYGOD AND DECEMBER BASED CHAPTERS. Mistletoe and Cuddling make me happy. Oh and deadly snowstorms.**

 **Aw man, I just love snow (even though my birthday is literally like in the middle of December, it's still in autumn dammit) Oh god, I need more medicine right now.**

 _ **::::Jason's cat doesn't have a name. Someone, please suggest an adorable name.(**_ **I was going to be cliché and name it Whiskers but thought better of it. So now I need a name for the dorky Jason's dorky cat)**

 **KUDOS TO THE LOVELY REVIEWERS OUT THERE. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE COUNTRY, AND WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SERVICE!**

 **-And kudos to lovely followers and favorites. We also thank you for your service in protecting out country.**


	10. I Think You Burned The Pasta

**Warning: Terrible Flashback by a _very_ terrible author**

 **Also warning: Some brief and non-explicit homophobia?**

* * *

Leo hummed, and Piper scrolled down the website she was looking at.

"Alright! So, did you find the costumes online? Can't wait to look badass." Leo cheered and Jason agreed.

"Nah. But there's a sale at Macy's. Thirty percent off on all dinnerware." Piper commented, clicking random buttons.

"Amazing." Leo rolled his eyes, and turned back to Jason. "Are you _sure_ you're not cheating, Grace?"

Jason put his hand across his heart. "Scouts honor."

"Uh huh." Leo said, narrowing his eyes. There was no way Jason could win checkers five times in a row.

Piper made a noise from the back of her throat, that honestly made Leo think of a cat hurling. "Jason was never a scout. Stop teasing him, Jason." Piper called out the blonde, not removing her eyes from the screen.

Leo swiveled his head towards Jason. "Wait, you're _not_ a scout?"

Jason smiled and raised his hands up in surrender. "Never was."

Leo stared at him, astonished. "So what was the whole thing about _Scouts honor_?!"

"Wasn't really swearing on any thing." Jason shrugged, and Leo made a frustrated ' _uggggggggh'_ sound and threw a red checker piece at Jason. He completely missed, and the piece flew over Jason's head.

"Nice one, Leo." Piper snorted, eyes still scanning her web page.

"I _am_ the nice one. Jason, over here is the cheater." Leo jerked a thumb towards the blue-eyed blonde who was packing the pieces away. Jason winked at Leo and Leo stuck his tongue out.

Leo checked the clock over the kitchen doorway, and winced. "Hey, did I forget to mention that my parents are going to be here earlier then normal? Did I also forget to mention that I was supposed to cook dinner?"

Piper looked up, and stared unnervingly at Leo. "I can't cook." Piper said, slowly, standing up with her laptop in her arms. "I'm going to your room now, Leo."

Leo pouted, watching as the girl left the table. He looked towards Jason. "So...I'm assuming you can't cook?"

Jason shrugged. "I eat take-out practically everyday. The only thing I can make is eggs."

Leo grinned and shot him a thumbs-up. "Well, that's good enough for me! Now help me make some damn spaghetti."

* * *

As it turns out, the way to make spaghetti is:

 **-Boil Water**

 **-Put Spaghetti Sticks thingy inside the hot water**

 **-Actually season that crap**

 **-Leave it in the pot for like 12 minutes**

After all the pasta making lessons Leo had gotten from his father, it was probably really pathetic when Leo and Jason ended up doing:

 **-Dump entire spaghetti box in the pot**

 **-Put lots of Salt and Hot sauce for maximum flavor**

 **-Put chopped up tomato bits for the sauce**

 **-Put that amazingly-tasty-italian-thats-actually-from-oregon olive oil for the extra "zest"**

 **-Turn that stove on so freaking hot, standing near it boils your skin**

 **-Leave it in the pot till it looks delicious as hell, and yummy to eat**

Leo and Jason had ran upstairs, to go with Piper and do their homework. What fun. In actuality, they _started_ doing homework, and then somehow they ended up lip-syncing to _The Back Street Boys_.

It was after a very tiring song, when Piper sniffed the air and made a face.

"What are you guys making? I think it's burning."

Jason and Leo exchanged glances before flying down the stairs. Leo nearly tripped on the last step in his hurry.

"Nothing's burning- _HOLY SHIT!_ " Leo screamed, standing at the doorway in the kitchen.

The entire pot was in flames.

The flames were really cool too. It was magnificent, the way the fire climbed upwards, flickering blue and orange. Leo felt the heat from the doorway, and it felt really warm. A little _too_ warm, but then again, there was a fire in his kitchen.

" _Holy crap! What the hell were you making!?_ " Piper shrieked at Leo, who shook his head furiously.

"Alright, what's like fire extinguisher?" Jason yelled over Piper's scolding.

"What we need is fucking water, _that's what we need!_ " Piper yelled, and stormed into the kitchen, towards the refrigerator.

"Piper? Are you freaking insane!?" Leo said, not risking stepping into the room.

Piper turned on the faucet, and grabbed a bowl. "The fire's only in the pot. Just help me."

Leo turned from the absolutely horrific scene of Piper definitely getting burned and scarred. He didn't want to see his friend die in a fire he caused.

"Shaving cream." Leo decided, and ran upstairs.

Jason blinked, before entering the kitchen. The blonde didn't understand why Leo was talking to himself over Piper dying. Honestly, it was just a tiny fire, and it was almost put out anyway.

Five seconds later, Leo scrambled down the stairs, can of shaving cream in his hand.

" _Alternative to fire extinguisher!_ " Leo shouted, spraying the fire with shaving cream.

He gasped and fell on his butt as the pot exploded into an even bigger bonfire. Apparently shaving cream was _extremely_ flammable.

"What the fuck?" The front door opened, and Leo stared at the fire as Percy rushed into the kitchen.

"Holy _macaroni_ , what the _hell_ is going on in here?" Percy shouted, rushing towards the faucet, to join Piper and Jason with putting out the fire.

Leo stared in shock at the fire. It was huge and terrifying, and Leo felt like he was seven again.

He was in his mother's workshop once more, staring at the fire, while screaming for someone who would never come back. The outline of the most gorgeous woman Leo had ever met, slowly dispersing into nothingness. The smell of smoke and burning wood, as he was the one being rescued by a fireman's arms, and he definitely didn't deserve to be. Then Leo screamed and kicked the fireman, desperate to run back in flames to find _mama_ , and watching the building collapse inside of itself, con-caving the remains. Leo was seven again, and he wanted nothing but to run and find the lady who loved him.

Percy's concerned face appeared in Leo's vision.

"Leo? Are you hurt? Why are you crying? Did you get burned-"

" _Mama?_ " Leo cried loudly, closing his eyes tightly.

Percy hugged Leo tightly, and Leo bawled his eyes out into his father's shirt.

* * *

Leo woke up, laying on the couch, with a blanket wrapped around him.

He groaned at the kink in his neck, and stretched his arms wide, yawning.

"Leo?"

Leo blinked the tired out of his eyes to see Percy staring at him. The adult handed him a cup of hot chocolate. It had jumbo rainbow-colored marshmallows, which Leo was extremely thankful for.

"Yes?" Leo muttered into his mug. He knew exactly what his dad wanted to know. It's been a few years since Leo had a breakdown, and had just broken his record.

"What happened? Why was there a fire in my kitchen?" Percy asked kindly, rubbing Leo's back slowly with one hand.

Leo sipped from his mug, using his tongue to guide a marshmallow into his mouth.

"We tried to make dinner." Leo mumbled, and Percy laughed lightly.

"Well I can tell you, that is how you _don't_ make food. Unless you like shaving cream and way too much oil."

Leo giggled. "Nah. Shaving cream burns fast."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you use shaving cream anyway? Don't you kids learn stuff like _call 9-1-1_ or _Stop, Drop and Roll_?"

Leo groaned and put his face in his hand. "Fire extinguishers use white stuff to extinguish fires right? Shaving cream is white and fluffy too, okay?"

Percy laughed, a little harder then he needed to.

"If you say so, Leo." Percy turned serious, and gave Leo _the look._ The look that read WARNING: VERY CONCERNED PARENT. PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP WHEN ENTERING THE DANGEROUS TERRITORY.

"Are you okay? You know, with the whole-"

"Yeah. I am." Leo said, wanting to stop talking about _her._ He's avoided talking about her for the past few years and wanted to continue his streak. Percy didn't even really know what happened. He only knew Esperanza Valdez died in a fire, and Leo was the boy who lived.

"Sure? Do we need to call someone?"

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine." Leo said, not sure if he actually felt fine. Physically, he was fine. Perfect, even. Mentally, he felt _okay_. But then again, he _didn't_. His mind switched like light switched between _fantastic_ and _help me_.

Percy ruffled his hair, and left a tiny kiss on the top of his head. "I'm going to call the school. Tomorrow, you're staying home."

Leo mentally scanned his brain to see if he had anything important for the next day. No tests, no projects due, no reports being shared... aw, man there was some review in History for an upcoming test. Meh, not like Leo would've actually paid attention anyway.

"Cool then." Leo said, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"Your father went to drop off Jason and Piper at their homes. And went to pick up some new pots."

Leo made a face, and wrapped his blanket tighter. Why hello Leo Burrito.

On the coffee table, his phone vibrated softly.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Hey, you okay?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** besides nearly burning my house down

 **HotStuffRepairs:** amazing

 **ThunderandLightning:** That's good.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Tomorrow, do you want to come to the bakery? I have work again.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i dunno

 **HotStuffRepairs:** are you paying

 **ThunderandLightning:** No.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hmm

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you dont make much of a compelling argument

 **ThunderandLightning:** Well I'm going to be there.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh wow now im definitely coming

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i hope you felt the sarcasm coming through jay

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo, I'm literally just working.

 **ThunderandLightning:** And besides, didn't you want to see your grandma or something?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh yeah

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i forgot she owns that place

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hmm i guess i havent seen her in a while

 **ThunderandLightning:** Okay.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay

 **ThunderandLightning:** Okay.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay

Leo set down his phone, and closed his eyes. He desperately needed sleep, but his mind refused to settle down again.

Thoughts flickered through his head at an irritating speed, and Leo didn't dare to concentrate on one. He knew what they all were about, and the Latino wanted nothing more, than to avoid the topic.

Leo wanted to fall asleep, but knew if he did, what he would dream about. Or was it nightmare about? Leo didn't care, and didn't want to know.

He closed his eyes regardless and drifted slowly.

* * *

The little boy, just at the age of six giggled. He waved his hands into the woman's face.

"Mama! Look!" Fluent Spanish flowed out as the boy's hands touched his face, leaving two black hand prints on his cheeks.

"My, my _mijo_. You look just like me." The woman leaned in, and rubbed noses with the boy, who giggled.

"Yep! Guess what Tommy did today! He took a crayon, and threw it across the room. And made it in the trash can!" Leo chatted, excitedly, and lifted his arms to be picked up.

Esperanza gasped and made a shocked face, lifting up her son. " _No!_ He _didn't_! He made it that far? _Impossible!_ "

Leo nodded, making wide movements with his arms. "He _did!_ It was _sooo_ cool!"

The Latina woman smiled, and set Leo down at the table."I bet it was. Look, Leo, crackers and juice. Your favorite." she said, wanting to get back to work. She was _so_ close to finishing the essay for her professor. Finishing an engineering degree as someone who wasn't a man, wasn't the easiest to do at times.

"Nope! I like chocolate chip." Leo mumbled, shoving a saltine into his mouth. It had _cheese_ , of course he was going to eat it.

"Mhm. Whatever you say, firebug." The mother said, amused and turned to get back to her essay. She just hoped the child wouldn't spill anything on the dozens of papers, oil spills, and metals lying around on the floor and tables.

"So then Jeanne said that Tommy was in _so_ much trouble, but then Wally called her a snitch, and then _Amy_ said that Wally was the snitch because he was the one-" Leo rambled, spraying crumbs everywhere as he shared his exhilarating story.

"Leo, be a dear and turn on the lights, please?" came his mother's voice as she scribbled something down.

Leo jumped out of his seat, ready to help. He scrambled through the tight spaces and cluttered mess, sipping from apple juice from a straw. He wove his way through papers and various tools to make it towards the light switch.

Esperanza blinked, as she heard nothing but silence. The lights didn't turn on like she had been expecting either. Her head swiveled towards the seven year old, and she gasped and slammed her chair back.

" _Mijo!_ ," The lady snatched the lit math and shook it to get rid of the flame. Leo snapped out of his trance, and stared up to his mother.

"Do not. _Ever_. Do that again." She hissed out, saying it in both English and Spanish. "Do not touch those, ever again!"

Leo's eyes widened as he recognized the serious tone his mother had, and hugged her leg. "I'm sorry Mama! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, _I promise_!" The child cried, not wanting his mother to get too upset.

Esperanza gave him another look, before setting down the now black match on top of the box of matches. She would have to remove them soon enough, and she flipped the light switch.

"Oh, Leo, what am I going to do?" Esperanza mused to herself quietly, and bent down to her son's level. "Leo, never touch those sticks again, okay?"

"Yes Mama."

She smiled and stood up once more. "Alright then."The Latina glanced at her watch, and rubbed the dirt off it's face. "Hmm, Leo, I think it's almost time to go home. Just let me pack my stuff up."

Leo nodded, and watched as she turned to go into a different room. He waited for the sound of her footsteps to cease, before standing on the tips of his toes to grab the box of matches again.

He struck one, and nearly blew it out, causing great disappointment.

Leo struck another one, and watched with curious interest as the flames flickered, and burned. It reminded him of the candles on a birthday cake, whenever his mother made one from scratch. It was usually _chocolate cake,_ which was _super duper_ rare.

Leo's eyes lit up. He would kill for some chocolate cake right now. Earlier in the week, this girl named Genevieve brought in cupcakes, but they were nasty because she was allergic to eggs.

Leo's own birthday, was in a few days to be honest. He hoped that this time around he'll get a drum set. He hated taking piano classes. Or maybe he'll get a tool set just like his mama's.

Leo stuck the box of matches inside his overalls pocket. The rectangular shape bulged noticeably, but Leo didn't mind.

The match in his hand flickered, and Leo felt the heat roll on to his wrist.

" _Leo!_ "

Leo jumped at the sound of his mother's voice, surprised that she managed to sneak up on him.

In his fright, he dropped the match, setting disorganized papers ablaze.

* * *

Leo gasped as he woke up.

It took a minute to get his eyes to filter in the unneeded sunshine coming from the windows, glaring at him disapprovingly. It took two minutes to realize that he no longer was in that workshop, but was at home.

He was in his room, although he last remembered falling asleep in the living room. He put his head in his hands, and figured that one of his fathers dragged him upstairs. It's been a while since they've done that.

Leo flipped on to his stomach and groaned in his pillow. He didn't want to wake up for the next 30 years.

Sometime at four, Leo took a shower, and ran out the house. He briefly remembered the house being empty, since both parents went to work, but he still called out that he was going out, out of habit.

His bike was pulled out of the garage, and Leo took a sort bike ride towards Sally's Treats. The bakery's smell of cupcakes emerged Leo's entire being, and to his delight, he saw Jason at the register. It was a Friday afternoon, which meant there wasn't _too_ many people around.

"Why hello, sexy." Leo said, using his palms to jump on the counter, and settle down comfortably.

"Sexy? That's a new one." Jason commented, closing the register.

Leo scoffed. "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about myself." Leo picked up a napkin holder. "You see this reflection? Pure sexiness."

Jason rolled his eyes, and pulled out a cup.

"You like strawberry, right?"

"Love it."

Jason whirled around his side of the counter to make some kind of strawberry flavored drink.

"Hey, is _abuela_ , here? I wanna see her." Leo said, flicking through the various suger packets.

"Nah. She called out sick, yesterday." Jason's voice came, and the sound of a blender went over any other noise in the cafe. Leo mentally counted how many straws there were on the counter.

"Yesterday? I thought you said she'll be here." Leo commented, peeling a straw wrapper. Ooh, he got a red straw this time.

"I lied." Jason laughed, as Jason put whipped cream over the drink.

Leo stared as Jason plopped a strawberry smoothie in front of him. It looked extremely appetizing, and Leo well expected it to be from past experiences.

"Thanks?" Leo questioned the blonde's happy mood, and Jason smiled.

"No problem! Hey, I'm going to go change, I'll be write back." Jason said, still smiling, and Leo briefly wondered if that much smiling hurt his face.

"Uh huh?"

Leo sipped the drink. It _was_ extremely delicious, but there was something different about it. Did Jason add an ingredient? Whatever he added, made Leo die and get taken straight to heaven.

The bell above the door jingled, and much to Leo's surprise, he saw a familiar face.

"McScowlyface?"

"What did you just call me?" McScowlyface scowled (big surprise).

Leo shifted his legs, and squirmed his butt to move back more comfortably on the counter. "Nothing. So what's up, uh-"

"Shut up. Not in the mood." The blonde crossed his arms, and scanned the cafe. "What, there's no service here?"

"Oh there is. Hot Rod will come in a minute or so." Leo said, to stop the teenager from leaving the establishment. Abuelita Jackson would be so proud.

"Great." McScowlyface muttered, and Leo slurped his smoothie.

"So..." Leo attempted to make conversation with the grumpy kid. "Been in detention recently?" Smooth, Leo. Real smooth.

McScowlyface grimaced. "Detention? Please."

Leo was ready to make a sarcastic remark, when Jason came out. "Octavian?"

McScowlyface growled. "Oh great, another annoying one."

" _Hey!_ I am so not annoying mister!"

Jason shot Leo a look.

Octavian rolled his eyes. "Whatever. A bagel, please."

Jason looked shocked, and Leo emptied a packet of zero-calorie sweetener in his drink. "One? Not two for your girlfriend-"

" _One._ " Octavian glared, and Jason shrugged. Leo just sat there and slurped.

"So what happened to your girlfriend?" Jason asked, extending a cup towards the other blonde.

" _Nothing_." Octavian gritted his teeth in a way that definitely suggested that something happened.

"Uh huh." Leo commented as Octavian paid an exited. "So, how do you know him?"

Jason sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Elementary school? I knew a long while back. I think we were always in the same class for five years straight. And he comes here a lot."

Leo bit his straw. "Good. As long as your not cheating on Pipes."

Jason leaned on the counter. "I'm not even dating her. Can't cheat on someone you're not going out with." He glanced at his watch. "Hmm, when's Katie coming to pick up her shift? Hope it's soon so I can leave."

Leo ignored the last part, and leaned in. "What? Why aren't you two dating? You're so _perfect_ for each other."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Maybe. But we'll never know."

The door opened again and Jason smiled.

"Thanks Katie. Register's full, and the knives need to be cleaned, thank you." Jason called, grabbing Leo's arm on his way out. Leo made sure to wave to the tired looking girl as he was pulled by Jason.

"Hey, I brought my bike." Leo called out, before Jason could whisk him away.

"Me too. Throw that cup out and lets go."

Leo had to reenter the bakery to throw out his cup. By the time he was back outside, Jason was on an electric blue bike, and had Leo's red one to the side.

Leo followed Jason down a few streets.

"Hey, care to tell me what you put in my drink?" Leo yelled against the brisk October wind.

"Nutmeg! And vanilla extract!" Jason called out, and Leo smiled to himself.

Hmm, nutmeg and vanilla extract. He'll have to remember that one day.

Leo blinked, recognizing the area they were riding into.

"Your place? Sweet. Is your sister there?"

"No, but Piper is!" Jason yelled back, and Leo was quiet.

Now was the _perfect_ time to set the two up to each other! Leo gave some time to think about what he could do as they finished the bike ride.

In front of Apartment 19E, was Piper. She was leaning on the door, typing out messages on her phone, at a rapid speed.

"Sup Beauty Queen."

"Repair Boy." Piper nodded in acknowledgment, and Jason took out his keys. The sound of the jingle echoed through the hallway, and Leo breathed in the smell of someone baking.

"I wanted to see what Jason's house looked like. Ever seen it?" Piper whispered.

Leo smiled smugly and the fact that Jason had shown him _first_ , rather then his soon-to-be-girlfriend. Does this mean Jason accepted him as the ultimate bro? Does this mean Leo was going to be the best man at their wedding? _Fuck yeah._

"Yep. I've been in there before. Like weeks ago." Leo whispered back, and Piper gave Jason's back a look, before staring at Leo.

"I see. Did he show you his bed?" Piper said slowly, and Leo was the one who looked strangely at her.

"Bedroom, you mean? Nah, he sleeps on the couch." Leo replied, and walked into the apartment, as Jason held open the door.

Leo was attacked by Jason's cat when he walked in. The black and white cat strolled around, and twisted around Leo's left foot, which the boy hoped wasn't because the cat thought his feet smelled stinky.

"Uh, Jason? What the heck is your cat doing?"

Jason stuck his head out from the kitchen. "Um, scenting you? I'm not really sure. It just means it's getting to know you, and get comfortable around you." The head of blonde hair disappeared again.

Leo was 99.99% sure that Jason was lying, and just didn't want to tell his best bud that the cat was thinking of a million ways to kill Leo.

Leo picked up the cat, and carried it towards the kitchen. "Is this animal a girl or boy?"

Jason shrugged. "Girl. Her name is Queen Fluffbuttom."

"Queen Fluffbottom? You've got be kidding me. What are you, five?" Leo snorted, and Jason turned red as he opened the fridge door.

"Shut up, I was nine."

Leo laughed harder.

* * *

" _But Mr. Watson, I love you!_ "

" _Oh, Charlotte, I can not express my feelings emotional distress much more. I am terribly sorry to hear that you have fallen in love with a broken heart like mine._ "

Leo groaned, squirming kicking his legs in the air.

"Ugh, this is _so boring_! Why can't we do something fun?" Leo complained, reaching his arms to touch the carpeted floor.

Piper swatted at the foot in her face. "Leo, shush, this is getting to the good part. And sit properly before all the blood rushes to your brain and you die."

" _Charlotte! What on earth are you doing with Watson? Have you been up to your tricks, darling? Watson, leave me and my daughter at once._ "

" _Mother! Why ever did you do that? Watson was ready to tell me if he truly does love me."_

"I won't die." Leo mumbled, and tugged on his shirt to keep his torso from being seen. Alas, the shirt followed the rule of gravity, and slid down to follow Leo's position of sitting upside down on the chair.

Jason poked Leo's abdomen causing the tan teenager to squeak, and concave on himself. Leo didn't even know he was that flexible, when his face came to touch his thighs.

Leo groaned in agony, as he stretched out, and he jumped on top of Jason and Piper's laps. He laid his head in Piper's lap, and hoped Jason wouldn't mind the butt on his lap.

"Can we change the channel? Let's play cards or something!"

Piper smacked Leo in the head lightly. "Shut up."

Leo twisted his body to look at Jason. The blue-eyed teen was leaning back in his spot on the couch, and had one hand on the small of Leo's back. He was staring in space, lost in thoughts, and Leo didn't want to interrupt the poor guy. Rule 871 in the _Ultimate Bro Code_ Book clearly stated: Thou shall not interrupt bro-thee when bro-thee is clearly thinking of most definitely perverted thoughts. Jason probably seemed innocent, but was probably a super pervert. Leo shuddered, but ignored the blonde.

He huffed as he stared at the tiny box TV.

" _Charlotte, how much do you love Watson?"_

" _A lot, Mother! Oh, dear God, by a lot! I want him to be happy."_

" _But he is in love with your best friend? Surely, he will not make a move on Jaime?"_

" _He should, if he knows whats good for him! Jaime most definitely likes him, even if Jaime denies it, as of currently."_

" _Oh, Charlotte, honey. You can only hope Jaime and Watson find each other soon enough. I am so sorry my poor child."_

Leo perked up. Oh yeah, he had a mission to accomplish! Mission P&J is a go!

"Wow, _okaysoI'mhungrycomeonJason_." Leo spoke rapidly, and pulled the confused blonde into the kitchen. Leo was 50% sure he was talking in English, and about 90% sure he was talking in Spanish. He was also 100% confused on why he still had an A in Calculus.

"What did you just say?" Jason questioned and Leo shrugged. He honestly didn't know at that point.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is _you_ using a pick-up line to tell Piper how amazing she looks today."

"Leo. I'm not going to tell her that." Jason said, leaning against the wall.

"Why? So what, she's wearing sweatpants with a hole on the right butt cheek like a homeless dude outside the grocery mart? So what, if she's wearing two different socks? Girls can be pretty no matter what they wear." Leo inwardly felt both proud, for defending his friend, and amazing, for insulting his friend at the same time.

Jason gave Leo a look. "Leo, you're wearing two different socks right now."

" _This conversation isn't about me, Grace, stop deflecting my argument swords of argumentative awesomeness._ "

"That doesn't even make sense."

" _You don't even make sense, Grace, stop deflecting my argument swords, you dick_."

"You worry me sometimes. And I told you, I'm not going to tell her that and then ask her out again."

Leo groaned. He was _so_ not going anywhere with this patient. He mentally checked off Doctor Leo A.K.A. The Love Doctor, off of his career list. " _Jasoooon!_ Stop making this hard for me! You and Piper are supposed to like each other, no?"

Jason sighed, and squeezed his eyes closed. "Leo. I just don't like her like that. I have someone else in mind, and that person just happened to not be _her_."

Leo was quiet, before releasing a final, "Oh."

Jason opened his eyes again, avoiding looking at Leo. Leo's eyes darted everywhere but the doorway that lead to the living room, and Jason. His eyes landed on the vase sitting on the kitchen table.

"Does she know that?" Leo asked, after what felt like a century.

Jason shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "Yeah. I told her a while back."

"Oh." There was a somewhat awkward silence, between them, until Leo perked up. Hey, _wait a minute-_

"Wait, so you like someone now?" Leo asked, suddenly excited.

Jason blinked, and slowly turned to a shade of pink. "Uh, no?" The blonde tried to lie. But the effort was in vain, as Jason could not pass Leo's lie detector test.

 _DING! DING! WE HAVE AN EMBARRASED LIAR OVER HERE!_

Leo wiggled his eyebrows. "Is she hot? Brunette, Raven-haired, Ginger, Blonde? Thin? Thick? Personally, I like all of the above."

Jason turned red, and kept silent.

Leo prattled on regardless. "Is she in any of the classes we share? Is she older, _ooh_ Jason _you sly dog_. Or is she younger? _I knew you were a child molester!_ Oh, wait no, do I even know her? Or is she some kind of secret relationship you haven't told me about?"

Jason stared at Leo, who stared back at him.

"Well?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-"

"Hello! My shows over, and I want to play checkers. Leo, lets _fucking go_." Piper appeared from the doorway, saving Jason. Leo instantly forgot what he was saying, and fist bumped the air.

" _Aw,_ yeah! Checkers with the Beauty Queen!" Leo cheered, following Piper out of the room.

Piper won the game.

* * *

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** about that crush you have

 **HotStuffRepairs:** are you going to tell me

 **ThunderandLightning:** Oh my God, Leo. Leave me alone.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** fine dont tell me

 **ThunderandLightning:** That was sorta the plan I had in my head.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** alright fine tell me

- **ThunderandLightning** blocked **HotStuffRepairs** -

 **HotStuffRepairs:** well fuck you too

* * *

One of the hardest things about being adopted by two gay men, is the gay men part.

Gay people weren't exactly the most accepted people in America, but they were working on it.

In the very deepest part of his mind, Leo sometimes hated the fact that he was adopted by Nico and Percy. There was once a time in middle school, when someone called Leo a fag because his parents were fags too. Leo got suspended for punching the boy in the face.

Leo was so scared his parents would hate him for getting into a fight that day, that he took his time walking home by stopping at every flower he passed by. When Nico heard the call that Leo got into a fight, he was extremely furious. And then Leo explained what had happened. Anger slid away to pride. Nico felt extremely prideful of his son, for defending his parents. Leo felt immensely happy that _Papa_ was the one who was proud of him.

That was while ago, of course. But now, in the present, these feelings pop again.

Percy, Nico, and Leo had just left from a restaurant, and were walking to their car.

There was a homeless person sitting on the street side, with a cup in front of him, that looked pitiful with only a few quarters and dimes inside.

Leo felt like he needed to do his good deed of the day, and threw in a five dollar bill. The homeless man smiled, and said, "Thank you young man. It is great to see this generation helping out the needy."

Percy smiled at Leo, and threw in five dollars too. Nico threw a glance at Percy, who was absolutely glowing, and gave him a peck on the cheek, before returning to his phone.

Much to the three's surprise, the homeless man threw the bill back at Percy. "Gah! I don't need your homo money! God does not accept people like you, who have strayed, and neither will I! You shall not infect me with your diseases."

Nico turn his phone off, and narrowed his eyes. "That is pretty strong to say, for someone who is asking for money on the streets."

The homeless man shook his head, and turned to Leo. "Kid, do not grow up to be like these sick men. A disgrace to humanity, the lot of them."

Leo stared at the man, and crossed his arms. "There's nothing wrong with my parents."

The man snorted and chuckled, sending a shiver down the teenager's back. "Parents? Two men can't raise a child! I see they have poisoned your mind already."

"Excuse you, but they have done a damn _amazing_ job at raising me," Leo took a step forward, but the homeless man chortled harder.

"Whatever you say. Ah, I have come to see that this generation has become stupid, and ignorant. Don't grow up to be another faggot too."

Percy fumed, and looked like he wanted to punch the man. Nico was surprisingly calm, as Leo glared.

"Whatever, hobo." Leo muttered, turning away from the man. He knew it was probably a little bitter, but he still felt justified with his response. The man made fun of _Leo's_ fathers.

Percy gave Nico a peck on the lips in spite of the man, and grabbed both Leo's and Nico's arms to tug them away.

"The _nerve_ of some people!" Percy ranted, waiting for Nico to unlock the car doors.

"I have it on video." Nico murmured silently, and Percy looked at him, and smiled.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"Did I ever tell you to _get in the car_?"

Percy slid inside, and Leo pulled open his phone.

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _opened chat with_ _ **BeautyQueen**_ _and_ _ **ThunderandLightning**_ _:_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** people are so annoying

 **BeautyQueen:** Omg, you finally looked in a mirror

 **BeautyQueen:** Congrats, dude

 **HotStuffRepairs:** shut up piper

 **HotStuffRepairs:** some dudes are homophobic dickheads

 **ThunderandLightning:** Homophobic?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Wait, you're not homophobic are you?

 **BeautyQueen:** Jason

 **BeautyQueen:** What kind of question is that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah even i knew that was kinda stupid

 **ThunderandLightning:** Sorry, it's just that I saw the word homophobic, and...

 **ThunderandLightning:** You know what, just ignore me.

 **BeautyQueen:** So what happened, Leo

 **BeautyQueen:** Some one found out you were gay?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** shut up piper thats not what happened

 **BeautyQueen:** ^^^Look Jason, you have a chance, he's not denying it

 **BeautyQueen:** Have safe sex

 **ThunderandLightning:** ._.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im ignoring that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** anyway

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i gave the hobo money and so did dad

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and he didnt take dads cause hes gay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** well tachnically dad is bi but whatever

 **HotStuffRepairs:** papa is going to upload the video to youtube

 **BeautyQueen:** Aw man that sucks butt

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i know

 **BeautyQueen:** Hmm, you're not gay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** duh

 **BeautyQueen:** You're probably bi then

 **BeautyQueen:** Cause you do like the girl booty

 **HotStuffRepairs:** now im officially revoking your best friend pass

 **HotStuffRepairs:** there is now a slot open for leos best friend

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'll take it.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** dude you already have one of those best friend spots

 **BeautyQueen:** oooh Friendzone hits again

 **BeautyQueen:** And what a hit that was

 **ThunderandLightning:** Piper, shut up

 **HotStuffRepairs:** pipes shut up your making no sense right now

 **BeautyQueen:** hahahahahahahaha

 **BeautyQueen:** Jason, you haven't told Leo yet?

 **ThunderandLightning:** Piper, butt out. Learn to consider other people's feelings.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah piper so rude

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i have no idea whats going on

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait

 **ThunderandLightning:** ...

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh man, did he figure it out

 **HotStuffRepairs:** DID JASON TELL YOU WHO HE LIKES

 **ThunderandLightning:** ...oh that's what he found out

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo, I can not tell a lie

 **BeautyQueen:** Yes, He fucking did

 **HotStuffRepairs:** arrrrrrggggggggggh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** now you have to tell me jason

 **ThunderandLightning:** Piper...

 **BeautyQueen:** ...uh, he gave me hints Leo.

 **BeautyQueen:** You'll have to guess via hints

 **ThunderandLightning:** Yep. Exactly what happened.

 **BeautyQueen:** Yeah, so about those hints

 **HotStuffRepairs:** gimme gimme gimme gimme

 **ThunderandLightning:** Uh, said person has dark hair

 **BeautyQueen:** Yeah, and said person has "the most gorgeous and deep chocolate eyes I have ever seen, and its like god has made the most perfect eyeballs in the entire world."

 **BeautyQueen:** Give or take, this is what Jason said

 **HotStuffRepairs:** aw

 **HotStuffRepairs:** you really like this girl huh

 **ThunderandLightning:** I guess you can say that.

 **BeautyQueen:** Okay, I guess, I'll just sit here, and wait for *this* moment to pass by

 **ThunderandLightning:** Piper.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** piper no

 **BeautyQueen:** What a beautiful moment, wonderfully ruined

 **HotStuffRepairs:** sigh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i have to go

 **HotStuffRepairs:** my phone keeps alerting me of its fivepercentbattery

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _closed chat with_ _ **BeautyQueen**_ _and_ _ **ThunderandLightning**_

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **/not checking that long passage I wrote\**

 **A/N: I don't know why that was so long. 6,000+ words which makes it the longest chapter so far. It doesn't actually seem that long to me, but it is...**

 **Props to ThereseRaquin for the Jason's lovely cat name (although I altered the Sir, into _Queen_ cause Jason's cat is freaking royalty)**

 **Actually, speaking of ThereseRaquin, you just so happened to be the person who wanted a Frazel story, and I did that. I'll put it up in a few minutes, and it's called _Vanilla Chai_.**

 **\- I can totally see Piper being super bitter at first about Jason liking Leo. Right now, she's being really bitter. Hmm, I'm thinking about doing a chapter in Jason's POV. In which Jason is so freaking in love with Leo and Leo is super oblivious *wink wonk* Thoughts?**

 **Also... I'm not updating this for two weeks instead of the usual one. Cause of all the hectic-ness with my BIRTHDAY on the 16th (whoopwhoop I'm one year closer to death) and the whole Holidays thing. So that's happening.**

 _ **Dear random people, for my birthday I want money, cake, and ValGrace. I think you can give me one of those *eyebrow wiggle***_

 *****I'm not sure if it occurred to anyone, but if you scroll uuuuuup. Replace the name _CHARLOTTE_ with _PIPER,_ replace the name _MR. WATSON_ with _JASON_ and replace the name _JAIME_ with _LEO_ and see what happens. *wink wonk***


	11. where in leo literally falls for jason

" _Dios Mio,_ shoot the stupid dude!" Leo shrieked, and Jason rolled his eyes.

"He's already dead." Jason muttered, glancing at the teenager next to him.

Leo frantically pressed buttons, in an attempt to stay alive. "Damn it Jason, the _other_ guy."

Jason squinted at the screen. "I have no idea where you are. Are you still at the hospital?"

Leo blinked, before shooting down another nameless character. "What do you mean, am I still at the hospital? How are you not there?!" Leo hastily reached to snatch a piece of candy from the bowl on the coffee table in front of him.

Jason shrugged and held down the 'B' button. "I thought you left already. The corpse of the nurse in the waiting office freaked me out."

Leo jammed his thumb into his 'X' button. "What did you expect from a game about a _zombie apocalypse_? Unicorns and rainbows? That stuff is for girls, dude."

Piper looked up from her book, to glance at the video game on screen. "Leo, don't talk about yourself like that. There's nothing wrong with liking unicorns and rainbows."

Leo gritted his teeth, and nearly jumped as a zombie snuck up behind him."I swear to God, Piper. If you were a zombie, I would shoot you down _so fast-_ what the _hell_ was that Jason?"

Jason's character darted past Leo. "There's a whole hoard of them following me. Or rather you, now." Jason snickered, as he watched his avatar run.

Piper put down her book to cheer Jason on, as Leo was left to defend his character with nothing but a shotgun with 2 bullets, and a baseball bat.

Leo dropped his controller, as his side of the screen was filled with cheesy blood graphics and the words, "PLAYER 1: EXTERMINATED".

"Ugggggggggggggggh. Why is life so hard for me?" Leo groaned, leaning back in his seat, and draping his arm over his eyes.

"Maybe 'cause you suck at it." Piper stuck out her tongue, and Leo retaliated with his middle finger.

Jason dropped his controller, and patted Leo's thigh comfortingly. "It's alright. Maybe you should have played against Piper to win?"

Leo groaned, and looked at Jason. "I hate playing with her."

Piper hummed and flipped a page in her book. "That's 'cause you always lose."

" _That's 'cause you always lose."_ Leo taunted, and Piper gave him a look.

"What are you reading?" Jason asked, changing the subject, as he started a new game for one player.

" _Romeo and Juliet_." Piper said, biting on the corner of her thumbnail.

Leo sat up, and laughed. "Ha, _you_ reading a _love_ story. That's a new one."

Piper closed the book, her index finger marking the page. "It's Silena's. I figured I might read something about love, as her wedding comes up."

"That's a tragedy." Jason commented, as he pressed button combinations.

"Yeah! It's about death." Leo said, stretching his self across the couch, Never mind the fact that Jason was sitting on it too. Jason automatically lifted his arms, as Leo placed his feet in Jason's lap.

"Leo. You've read like 10 books in your life. You don't know what this is about." Piper retorted, and stood up to stretch out all the kinks in her body.

" _Excuse me_? Try _uno_." Leo rolled his eyes, and turned towards Jason. "The nerve of her, thinking I've read that many books. Who does she think I am, a librarian?"

"Uh huh, yeah, sure whatever you say." Jason automatically responded, as he stared intently at the screen ahead.

Jason died, and he gave an angry huff.

"Ha! That's what you get for leaving me to die earlier." Leo snatched the controller away.

Piper leaned over and flicked Leo in the back of the head. "Be more sensitive. He got farther than you did."

"Bleh." Leo stuck out his tongue, not really caring who it was for. "I'm hungry, when do we get food?"

Piper stared at him. "Do you want to make it yourself?"

" _Noooo_." Leo whined. "Too much effort."

Jason stretched his arms back, making a sickening pop that didn't sound too good. Leo winced at the sound and glanced at the blond.

"I can't believe we're wasting Halloween doing this." Leo rolled his eyes, and to his surprise, Jason was the one to jab at him.

"You were the one who couldn't wash the costumes right. You don't mix whites with darks." Jason gave an unusual scowl, that fit weirdly on his face.

Leo rubbed his side, and shut down the gaming system. "Oh, yeah. That."

Piper rolled her eyes, and reached for the bowl of candy. She unwrapped a chocolate truffle. "You guys were supposed to help Mitchell with his party. He was pretty upset when I told him you guys couldn't go." Piper said, not making it unknown that she was mainly talking about Leo. Leo was 100% sure that Mitchell would not give a crap whether or not Jason came.

Leo threw a wrapper at Piper. "Whatever. You shouldn't sign us up for things we didn't want to do. This would've been my last year to trick-or-treat."

"Last year?" Jason questioned. "I think your last year was when you were ten. Which was _seven_ years ago."

Leo gasped. "You can _never_ be too old to go trick-or-treating!"

"Then why'd you say that this year was your last year?" Piper pointed out. "Contradicting yourself, Leo."

" _Contradicting yourself, Leo_." Leo repeated. He grabbed the bowl of sweets, and sorted through them.

Piper sighed, and glanced at her watch. "It's pretty late. You guys should probably go home now."

Jason stood up, along with Leo. "We already planned for me to sleep over tonight. Tomorrow's Saturday, so it's no biggie for my sis."

Piper nodded, and stuck out her hand. "You can't run away with my candy, _Leo_."

"It was for the kids trick-or-treating." Leo gave the bowl to her regardless.

Piper picked up her book again. "They don't know that I have candy."

Leo shrugged. "Whatever. You ran out of milk chocolate, anyway."

* * *

"Holy _shit_ , it's cold." Leo shivered, zipping his jacket up.

Jason snickered. "Can't believe it took you half a block to figure that one out."

Leo punched Jason's arm. "Shut it, you big lug. I bet all that muscle you got keeps you warm. It'll be like blubber on a whale."

"That's exactly what happened."

"I knew it."

Leo searched for his keys, as the two of them stood in front of his front door. "Keys, keys, _not keys_ \- ah, there we go!"

As Leo stumbled over unlocking his door, Jason nudged him. "Leo, hurry up. There's some dude staring at us."

Leo glanced at Jason before pushing open the door. "What the heck are you talking about?"

Jason shoved Leo inside, and slammed the door shut. He darted into the living room, closing window curtains.

Leo slid off his jacket. "Now, what are you doing?" He asked, as the paranoid blond peeked outside. Jason gestured for Leo to come over.

"You see that guy? I think he was following us the entire time." Jason murmured, pointing to a shadowy figure.

The figure in question was just standing across the street, leaning against a tree. He was staring straight at Leo's house, assessing it from the safe shadows of the darkening sky.

"That's so _creepy_." Leo squinted at the figure.

Jason nodded, closing the blinds again. His eyes widened. "Dude, It's _Halloween_! Do you have any idea how many children are going to be running around?"

"So?" Leo got on his hands and knees, to find the television remote.

Jason's foot was placed in Leo's line of vision. " _So?_ Creepy guy outside, with children running around? Does kidnapping ring a bell? He probably has a creepy van nearby."

Leo blinked. "Shit, man." He peered through the curtains. "He's not there anymore."

" _What_?" Jason stuck his head through.

It was true, the figure was completely gone and out of sight. Leo figured maybe he ran off or something.

"Do you want to watch scary movies? Dad's with some friend, and Papa's at a conference all weekend. We have the whole house to ourselves for hours."

Jason still stared outside. " _Leo._ What if that was some creepy child molester?"

"He's gone now, there's nothing we can do about it. Maybe someone called the police on him?" Leo suggested, walking towards the kitchen. "How do you like your popcorn?"

* * *

" _HOLYCRAPWHATWASTHAT?_ " Leo shrieked, his hands gripping on to the blanket. Beside him, Jason bit his lip to keep from laughing.

In hindsight, Leo should've known not to watch a horror movie on _Halloween_. He should've known not to watch a horror movie regardless, because he was usually the one who got scared at every jumpscare, anyway.

Before putting on the movie, Leo made a promise to himself, that he would _not_ get scared, and scream like a girl. He broke the promise within the first ten minutes of the first movie. Now, five movies in, Leo was practically molded into Jason.

"You okay there?" Jason asked, from next to Leo. Originally, they were sitting on opposite sides of the couch. Five shrieks later, Leo found himself huddling at Jason's side.

"No." Leo spoke out bitterly, his eyes widening at the sight on the scream. "Oh, _no,_ he's going to die."

Jason made an amused noise, as he watched the murderer stab one of the side characters. Leo shivered, glancing at Jason. He hoped that Jason was laughing at Leo, and not at the dying boy because that would be freaking _psychotic_. On the other hand, he didn't want Jason to laugh at him.

"I can't watch." Leo cowered, turning to place his face on Jason's arm. Jason's sweater tickled his cheeks pleasantly. "Tell me when it's over."

Jason lifted his arm up, forcing Leo to fall into his side. "It's not that scary. This movie is really bad, you can see the cameraman in one shot."

"Shut up, and let me die." Leo whined, but stared at the screen nevertheless.

Jason put his arm around Leo comfortingly. "See not too bad."

Leo didn't say anything. His mind was too busy flickering between _holy crap I was starting to like that girl, why'd she die?_ and _wow, Jason generates a lot of body heat_. The latter comment was nudged in the back of his mind, like a giant wedge in all of Leo's thoughts.

Unlike Leo, Jason _did_ generate a bunch of body heat, but his skin was cooler to the touch. Leo, unfortunately, was like a giant walking sun. He generated heat, and was hot to the touch (and of course, he _totally looked hot)_.

Leo could also hear Jason's heartbeat, from where he was leaning. It was beating at a surprisingly faster rate than what Leo expected, and Leo could only assume that Jason was more scared than what he was showing. That would be great, the amazing Jason afraid of something? _Ha ha_.

Leo sighed, and leaned in closer.

The movie ended shortly, and Jason flicked off the TV shrouding them both with darkness.

"Aw man, they all died! That was terrible!" Leo booed as he stretched all his joints out.

Jason stood up to turn on the lights. "Ugh, it's 2 AM. We should sleep."

"The guest bedroom's clean." Leo pulled the blanket around him, and waddled towards his bedroom.

Once Leo entered the bedroom, he fell on the bed, and groaned. "My bed feels like heaven, this is amazing."

Jason entered the room, with pajamas on. "You should probably take your jeans off." Jason suggested. "It'll be uncomfortable to sleep in."

Leo grumbled something, and wiggled his body to get out of his jeans. He threw them in Jason's general direction, and rested his head on the pillow.

Jason snickered, but made to turn off the light. "Night, Leo."

Leo grunted, and turned as Jason closed the door. Five minutes after Jason closed the door, Leo darted up. Did he just hear something? Oh man, he totally did.

Leo jumped, as he saw his closet door creak open. " _Mierda_."

It took only thirty seconds, until Leo found himself in the doorway of Jason's guest room. Jason sat up, and wiped at his eyes. "Leo?"

Leo made a noise, and tiptoed closer to the bed. "Can I sleep here? I swear I heard a noise and you know, horror movies-"

"Sure." Jason slid to one end of the bed, and Leo slipped under the covers, grateful.

"Thanks." Leo muttered, breathing in the smell of clean sheets. "Why is it so cold in here?"

Jason scooted a little closer. "Not sure. Stop hogging the blankets."

"Lo siento." Leo apologized, and ignored the feel of his legs tangling with Jason's.

"Mhm. Night Leo." Jason yawned, and pressed closer.

"Night." Leo responded back, and he pushed closer too.

* * *

When Leo woke up, he was pleasantly surprised by waking up, wrapped in the body of Jason Grace. Were they spooning? Most likely.

Jason was clingy in his sleep, as Leo came to realize. The blond's arms were wrapped around Leo, who was pulled into Jason's chest. If anyone asked, Leo was going to deny the fact that he didn't mind in the slightest.

Leo pushed away from Jason, and sat up. The morning light filtered in from the windows, making everything painfully bright. Leo turned to see Jason sleeping, and bit his lip. Should he just stay, or instead leave?

Jason moved closer to Leo in his sleep, missing his source of heat. When he felt the contact, Leo jerked out of the bed, and tumbled to the floor.

"Leo?" Jason peered over the bed, covering his mouth as he yawned.

Leo grumbled into the carpet, and rolled over onto his back. "My face hurts."

Despite his state of tiredness, Jason laughed. "That's what happens when you faceplant into the floor."

"Shut up." Leo groaned, and rubbed his face. He sat up.

Jason tossed his legs to the side of the bed, and stretched. "'Morning, anyway."

"Good morning." Leo mumbled. He stood up, slowly. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Jason stood up as well. "Anything you want to make. I'm not picky."

"I hope you like cereal, because that's all I can make." Leo admitted.

Jason shrugged. "It's fine."

"Alright." Leo ran downstairs, five steps ahead of Jason. He grabbed two bowls, and a few spoons.

Jason walked downstairs like a normal person. "You put a fork with my cereal." he commented, moving the fork.

"Maybe I wanted you to use a fork." Leo teased. In all honesty, Leo didn't notice at all, and figured he out a spoon down. Opps.

"Wow, that'll be something, wouldn't it? Using a fork instead. What the _fork_ Leo?"

Leo nearly dropped the carton of milk, and turned around to face Jason. "Did Jason Grace just make a _pun_? In place of a _curse word_?"

Jason shrugged. "Too _spoon_?"

"Oh my god, get out my house, you menace. Keep doing that and I will-"

" _Knife_ me?"Jason offered.

Leo stared at Jason, before laughing. "Oh man, if only Piper was here to see this. You suck at puns."

Jason chuckled. "Oh, stick a fork in it. I think I did pretty great."

Leo clapped a hand on Jason's back. "Well, I'm here to tell you never to say those atrocities ever again."

"Noted."

* * *

Leo groaned as he stared at his father.

"Why do _I_ have to decorate the house? Thanksgiving didn't even pass!" Leo whined.

Nico looked up. "Thanksgiving? What's Thanksgiving?"

Percy rolled his eyes, and placed his hand on top of Nico's. "Honey, you can stop pretending you don't know what it is, you've been in America long enough." Percy said calmly, staring into Nico's eyes.

Leo complained longer. "But Halloween was like _two_ days ago, I can't decorate with Christmas lights yet! We don't want to be _that_ house, do we?"

Nico snorted. "We _are_ that house. We're also the house that leaves decorations up until Percy takes them down. Which is usually in _February_."

"And Halloween was a week ago." Percy piped up. His eyes dropped from Leo to the pizza box on the table. "Are we done yet? I'm hungry."

Nico opened the box for him.

"Uh, _hello_?" Leo cut in. "Do I still have to set it up or...?"

Percy and Nico stared at each other, causing Leo to shift uncomfortably. His dads had some kind of weird eye-contact-language-of-fatherness where they had a conversation in front of Leo, without actually saying anything.

"Yes." They said at the same time.

" _Ugh."_

* * *

"Okay guys, my parents said that because you guys stay over so much, you have to help me set up these Christmas lights outside." Leo explained.

"That's probably not what happened." Piper folded her arms, and Jason nodded with a laugh.

"Of course it's not!" Leo beamed, sticking his hands into his pockets. "Damn, it's cold outside. Mucho frio, if you know what I mean."

Jason shifted through some of the boxes. "Some of this stuff can be put in the windows from inside."

Piper snatched the box away. " _Nuh uh_ , no way are you taking away my opportunity for warmth. Love ya both, but _bye~!_ " Piper practically ran inside, leaving Leo and Jason to work outside.

Leo blinked, before turning to Jason. "So I guess you and I-?"

"Yeah." Jason confirmed. He tossed a line of lights. "Can you handle the roof?"

Leo shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Everything was going pretty fine, really. Leo managed to get most of the roof decorated with lights, and when he looked down, Jason seemed to be getting a lot of work done. It was going well, until Leo might have accidentally fell off his ladder, and nearly killed himself (probably).

"Jason, you think you can see if this is straight?" Leo called down to the blond.

Jason looked up, and took a step back. "Nah, the right side is a little too crooked. Can you even reach that again?"

Leo stretched to fix it. His fingertips stopped just short of the place they needed to be."Maybe?" The ladder wobbled shakily, underneath him.

Jason hesitated. "Um, Leo…"

Leo reached out again causing the ladder to creak move. "Shut _up_ , I think I got it!" Leo grabbed hold of the string of lights, and suddenly he was falling, tugging the lights with him.

" _Shit-!"_ Leo gasped out.

" _Leo!"_

"Damn it Leo." Leo glanced up, and all he saw was blue. He decided he really liked this blue a lot. The sky, maybe? Was this heaven? _Wow_ , how did _Leo_ get into heaven- wait, no, Leo knew this shade of blue.

"Jason. Holy crap, dude." Leo stared at Jason in astonishment. A light flickered in Jason's hair.

"How the heck did you manage to fall?" Jason rolled his eyes, tightening his hold on Leo. His breath materialized in front of their faces, leaving a warmth fade on Leo's cheek.

"How the heck did you manage to catch me- holy _crap_." Leo gasped, his eyes widening. "You actually _are_ Superman."

Jason rolled his eyes, and shifted his arms. "As much as I enjoy your praise, and love being your Clark Kent- believe me, I _do_ , mind if you stand up now? My arm is starting to cramp up."

Leo sighed. "Alright, just let my heart beat slow down, and I can catch my breath. I think if I didn't fall and die, then my heart beating out of my chest would." It was true. Leo was still trying to catch his breath, and his heart was beating a thousand times each second.

"Alright." Leo admitted, and slid out of Jason's hold. Christmas lights twinkled around them, as they tangled around the duo's bodies. "Thanks for- you know, saving my life."

"You weren't going to die. At the most, maybe fracture something." Jason scratched his neck, awkwardly. "But, you're welcome."

Leo nodded, and gestured to the Christmas lights. "Maybe we should tell my parents to hold off on these? I think I just stepped on a few of the lights."

"That's probably the best thing to do." Jason agreed, bending down to grab some of the decorations.

Leo was ready to help, except he paused, placing his hand on his chest. His heart was still beating a million times a minute. He knew this feeling, didn't he? He had felt it a million times before. Leo's face grew hot.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Leo announced, jogging away. Once inside the house, he slammed the door closed, and leaned on it. He slid to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees.

Piper peered out of the living room. "Leo, what are you doing."

Leo made an inhuman noise, and banged his head against the door. "Ugh, Jason."

Piper crouched in front of Leo, her face filled with concern. "What did Jason do?"

"He caught me." Leo groaned.

"What?"

"But right now, I still feel like I'm falling." Leo muttered.

Piper glanced at the door knob near Leo's head. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No. Just leave me alone, Pipes." Leo spoke, although it felt like it was more to his knees then to the girl. But, Piper listened to him, and left to turn into the kitchen.

"Hey, if you want to talk to anyone, I'm here." Piper called out, from the kitchen.

Leo just banged his head on the door. _I hate Jason Grace_.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Dios Mio-** used for 'My God' or 'Oh my God' *shrug*

 **Mierda-** shit

 **Lo siento-** sorry

 **Mucho frio-** very cold? i think i was supposed to write hace frio, oh well.

 **[I think i'm forgetting something here?]**

 **A/N: Oh wow, look at this random person who randomly updates hahaha. (I'm so sorry) I have an explanation for why, but I don't think any of you care about my personal life like that.**

 **Ugh, let's get something straight: Leo does NOT hate Jason Grace. Although he thinks it, he totally doesn't. Quite the opposite actually ahaha.**

 **SO remember a while back I had the idea of a bonus chapter.** **Well, I'm talking it out, and opening a new fic for it. It'll be filled with Valgrace drabbles, cause why not. (Also, we are going to ignore that I was really active during winter break, but I swear it was all for a good cause: Valgrace)**

 _ **Here's my shameless self-advertising**_ **: go read that pipalypso fic i have. that's about it, that's all i wanted to advertise today.**


	12. Snailson and Snaildez

**Translations:**

/uhhhh i think the one that i used i already translated? fine then: **abuelita= grandma** \

 **A/N: You might be asking yourself, why is there an Author's Note in the beginning? Because this is important? Nah, I just like how it ended, and I'm not ruining that with an A/N... aw man, i'm seriously sorry I was procrastinating this chapter a lot. And I was procrastinating the date... I was thinking of publishing this on Valentine's Day, and then I released how far away that was. Will I update again on the VD? probably not, but who even knows, my updating schedule freaking changed so drastically.**

 **Anyway, thanks for the favorites and follows all that stuff. gives me the warm tinglies the leo gets with jason. actually this entire time when i was writing this i kept thinking: _gayson grace, gayson grace, gayson grace_. XD. i'm going to find a way to bring that into the next chapter.**

 **Oooh, iI'm planning on changing the summary sooner or later. not by much but by a somewhat noticeable amount. Can you believe the story was originally planned as angst? The Title is Runs In The Family, based on the song by Amanda Palmer, but now the only thing Running in This Family is the gayness XD [lets pretend i didnt say that] So yeah now, im keeping the title solely on that reason heh.**

 **-I think a guest told me something about them not going to school, and let me just say there are so many holes and contradictions in this story, that I don't think they even go to school anymore. Check out our high-school drop outs.**

* * *

For a while, Leo made it his personal mission to avoid Jason Grace. Was that Jason waving to him? Tie your shoes. Was that Jason trying to walk over? Pretend to have a phone call. Was that Jason knocking on his door? Turn the TV volume up.

It actually worked for a while. Jason hadn't bothered Leo in the classes they shared (which was a surprising amount of Calculus, Gym, AP English and AP History). Thanksgiving break was practically around the corner, and Leo had been strong from his Jason withdrawal.

Alas, going cold turkey is always hard. And every quitter always does a little cheat. In Leo's case he asks Jason out on a date. Sort of. Is it a date if there's another person there?

"Jason lets go to the movies." Leo whispered into the phone.

"Why are you whispering?" Jason questioned on the other side of the line.

Leo looked around the area. "Because if I speak louder, Mitchell would come. Kid has ears like a freaking bat. I'm supposed to take Mitchell out to the movies, and I don't trust being alone with him in the dark. Which is why I'm on the phone with you."

It wasn't unknown that Leo hadn't wanted to go out to the movies. But Piper figured that today would be the _perfect_ time to cash in a bet and make Leo take her brother out. Leo had pleaded for a different punishment, but Piper ignored him.

"Sure, why not. Is in an hour okay? It's Sunday, and I have a huge test to study for." Jason said.

Leo snorted. "Really? Studying. You're such a perfectionist, Jason. So, we're just going to pretend that we _accidentally_ stumbled across each other at the movies. Cool?"

"Sure. See you then." Jason ended the phone call, and Leo slipped his phone away. Now to face with the current problem at hand.

"Are you sure you don't have a bike?" Leo asked uncertainly, as Mitchell grinned innocently.

"Of course not! Mine is too small for me." Mitchell explained. "Lacey's is too small for her, I'm not sure if Piper even has a bike, I _know_ Drew doesn't have one, and Silena has a car."

Leo squinted at Mitchell. Yeah, he knew Piper had a bike, but that one would be too big for the kid. Leo sighed.

"Fine. Just sit in the seat, and hold on to my waist. I'll just stand up and push the pedals." Leo huffed, pulling on his bike. "You're just lucky I haven't perfected the whole, 'one person sits on the handlebars' thing. I don't want you to break your neck or something."

Mitchell hopped onto the bike with glee. His hands stuck out patiently. "Ready when you are!" Mitchell cheered. "Hurry up, I'm getting hungry here."

Leo rolled his eyes, and threw a leg on each side of the bike. Automatically Mitchell's hands latch onto Leo's body. " _Hey!_ I think I said to hold onto my _waist!"_

* * *

Mitchell chewed on a French Fry in thought. "Maybe a scary movie? I like horror."

Leo dropped his napkin on the table. " _Hell_ no. No scary movies. How about a cartoon? Those are great for kids."

"I'm not a kid." Mitchell mumbled. "I turn fourteen in a few months anyway."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Really then? Well, what do you want for your birthday?"

Mitchell gave Leo a look. "Are you really asking me that?"

"Nevermind that." Leo shot back quickly. He shivered. "Anyway, there's no way I'm watching a scary movie with you."

Mitchell shrugged. "If you say so. But I hear there's a really good one that came out last week. It has all the great stuff, you know, creepy girls, dolls, mirrors, and _twins_." Mitchell wiggled his fingers in front of Leo's face.

Leo slapped Mitchell's fingers away. "Stop trying to creep me out, you creep."

"Sorry." Mitchell shrugged again, and sipped his drink slowly. He lifted another fry to his mouth. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Mitchell dropped the piece of food, and it tumbled to the table. "How are you supposed to tell someone that you care a lot for them?"

Leo hesitated. "Why do you want to know?"

"I wanna tell someone that, and I don't know how to." Mitchell shrugged. "And you're the only one who I can ask."

Leo made a face. "What about your sisters?"

"They're _girls_." Mitchell explained. "And my mom is who knows where. At least Piper gets to see her everyday at her teaching job. Besides, they wouldn't understand."

Leo shrugged. "Fair enough. Hmm, that's a tough question. Buy what the girl likes, maybe spend some time with her. Go to her house all the time, listen to her when she speaks about everything."

Mitchell looked at Leo strangely, before laughing. "Oh! You think I'm talking about a _girl_?"

"Well aren't you?" Now Leo was super confused. Wait, the kid was gay wasn't he?

Mitchell giggled. "Well yeah, but not a girl _girl_. I'm talking about Lacey. We got into a fight."

" _Oh_." Was really all Leo could say. He chewed on another french fry. "Twin fight, huh?"

"Duh." Mitchell said as if it was obvious.

Leo glanced at his watch. "I don't have any siblings currently. Maybe give her time? Girls are confusing. Anyway, we should go to the theaters soon."

Mitchell shrugged as he balled up his trash.

* * *

As soon as they managed to the pay for tickets, Leo went on a search for Jason. It was unusually crowded for a Sunday night, so Leo had to resort to holding Mitchell's hand to keep him from getting lost as he weaved in and out through the crowd.

"Are we getting popcorn? Can I play in the arcade?" Mitchell swung their joint hands together. It must've been strange to see a seventeen year old and a thirteen year old holding hands.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want kid." Leo winced at looking at the prices for popcorn.

By the time Leo actually managed to surrender his life savings for a measly large popcorn, Mitchell was gone.

"What the heck," Leo muttered to himself, as he squeezed past people to find the poor child.

The moment Leo caught sight of the other, he ran into someone. It was an accident really, Leo wasn't focusing on what was in front of him, and ran straight into the person.

"Leo!" Mitchell yelled, as Leo fell to the floor with an eloquent, ' _oomph_ '.

Leo stared at the ceiling, thinking about all the money wasted on his popcorn, when Mitchell's face hovered over his.

"Leo, are you okay?" Mitchell asked, concerned. "Do you need mouth-to-mouth?"

Okay, maybe not as concerned as Leo liked to believe he was.

"Uh, _no thank you_." Leo made a face, and pushed Mitchell's face away. He sat up, and much to his surprise was Jason. Jason was crouching down in front of Leo, catching his balance.

"You okay?" Jason asked, _actually_ concerned about Leo's well-being. "Need a hand?"

"Uh," Leo blinked, feeling his face get hot. He mumbled something, hoping it sounded smart, and accepted Jason's hand.

Jason was strong. That's great right? _Yeah_ , it was. Jason was _really_ strong, Leo noted.

"So, uh," Leo didn't really want to let go of Jason's hand. "Hi."

"Hi," Jason smirked. "Guess you keep falling for me, huh?"

Leo took a step back and lightly socked Jason in the arm. "Oh my _God_ , Grace." Leo was laughing hard enough to ignore the burning in his cheeks and ears.

Jason laughed too. "Sorry, couldn't help it. Er, sorry about your popcorn."

"Eh, it was for Mitchell. I'm sure he wouldn't mind too much. Plus, we ate before we came here." Leo shrugged.

Mitchell decided it was his time to pipe up again, as he pulled Leo into a hug. "It's okay, Leo. I know it wasn't your fault." Mitchell seemed to glare at Jason.

Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him too much. Anyway, the movie should be starting soon."

"Really? What movie are you going to see?" Jason raised an eyebrow. Leo figured he was just going to buy a ticket to the movie he was going to say.

Leo made a face. "Some horror movie. Stupid kid and his puppy dog eyes."

Jason chuckled as Mitchell perked up. "Hey! The movie is supposed to have _really_ great ratings! Plus it has creepy things!"

Leo shuddered. "That's the movie we're going to see. I don't even know the actual name of it, and the tickets are in my back pockets."

Jason chuckled again. "That's fine. I'm sure I'll figure it out. See you, then." Jason waved bye.

Mitchell made a face and looked up at Leo. While there was a eight difference, there wasn't a _gigantic_ one. "What the heck does he mean by ' _see you later'_?"

Leo shrugged. "We'll sit next to him during the movie."

" _Why_?" Mitchell glared in the direction Jason left to go. "Why can't he sit by himself?"

"You're a child, sometimes." Leo laughed. "You need to share, sometimes. I'm Jason's friend too."

"Unfortunately." Mitchell muttered, grabbing Leo's hand. "Let's go and get good seats."

Leo whined. "I'd rather sit somewhere where I don't have to see at all."

Mitchell pulled on Leo's arm insistently. "Come on, you big baby. I bet the movie isn't scary at all!"

* * *

"Holy shit." Leo gasped, wide eyed.

Mitchell ignored him, as Jason snickered.

"It's okay if you don't want to see anymore." Jason whispered into Leo's right ear. Leo shook his head, still staring at the big screen.

Mitchell was surprisingly calm about the movie. He was just sitting there eating the popcorn that Jason bought as an apology, completely absorbed. Leo could've sworn he heard the kid laugh when a ghost popped out, and Leo nearly pissed his pants.

"Oh no, I can't watch this." Leo groaned, turning his head into Jason's shoulder.

Jason's shoulder sort of became a go to, whenever Leo freaked out over something in the movie. Jason didn't seem to mind at all, he even moved closer to Leo to make it more comfortable for the both of them.

Plus there was an added bonus: Jason's hoodies smelled like spearmint. Leo didn't know _how_ but it smelled like a chewing gum factory, and it was _great_. Also, Jason had a pretty comfortable shoulder. Probably the most comfortable shoulder Leo has ever rested on (not that he normally rests on other people's shoulders, that's weird).

Somewhere in between someone being shot, and someone being beheaded, Leo actually managed to fall asleep on Jason.

* * *

"That was a great movie." Leo cheered, opening the door for the rest of the group.

Jason rolled his eyes. "You fell asleep within the first hour of it."

"It was _so_ cool! The dude was like ' _There's no way he's the murderer'_ and then turns out he was!" Mitchell rambled, having a bit of childly excitement peeking through. Now that Leo looked him over, Mitchell didn't have an ounce of black on, nor was wearing a band t-shirt. Guess someone was out of their punk phase (the phase he was probably too young to be having, anyway).

"That's why the movie was great! I didn't see half of it!" Leo announced happily, turning to the inside of the ice cream shop. They agreed to have ice cream after the movie, even though it was nearing December.

"You should've seen it, it was _awesome!_ " Mitchell concluded, as he rushed to see the available flavors. "The effects were great."

"Geez kid, you're making it sound like it was an action film." Leo noted, as he looked at the flavors. Hmm, no birthday cake flavor today.

Leo looked up to see Jason leaning against the wall, watching for both Leo and Mitchell to decide. "You know what you want, Jay?"

"Vanilla, of course."

Leo stuck out his tongue. "Boo. Plain as ever."

" _Whoa, whoa_. How come _I_ don't get a nickname?" Mitchell questioned, raising an eyebrow up.

Leo blinked as Jason looked on, slightly intrigued. "What?"

Mitchell spoke slower. "How come I don't get a nickname? You just called Jason, Jay, and he doesn't even _deserve_ one from you."

"Uh," Leo's eyes darted from the annoyed face of Mitchell to the amused face of Jason. "Because he's special?"

"And I'm not?" Mitchell pouted- and _damn_ , Leo was a sucker for little kids pouting. Even if said 'little kid' was technically a teenager.

"No- I mean yes! Yes, you are." Leo reassured him. "Uh, Jason's my special bro, who's in my class. And you're special to me too."

"So what can my nickname be?" Mitchell asked, staring at the ice cream.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't know… Mitch? Mitchy?" He looked at Jason, who shrugged. What a help he was.

" _Oh_ , how about this?" Leo said. "You're so special, you don't even _need_ a nickname. You can even rub it in Jay's face."

Mitchell brightened, and stuck his tongue out at Jason, who frowned.

" _Whoa, whoa, whoa_. How come he's so special?" Jason grumbled, as Mitchell started a friendly conversation with the person across the counter.

"You're special to me too." Leo winked, then laughed. "You're a child, you know that Grace?"

Jason huffed as he went to pay for his ice cream.

Five minutes later, the trio were sitting in at a circular table, eating ice cream. Well, technically Leo got a strawberry milkshake, but they were still sitting at a table together.

"We should do this more often." Mitchell mused as he licked up one side of his cone.

Leo made a face. "No scary movies."

Mitchell nodded happily. "Okay, just no Jason, and then it'll be all good."

Jason glared at the 13-year old, who remained (purposely) ignorant of the heated glare. Jason turned to Leo. "I don't know, I think we should just go out without the little kid."

Leo just laughed when the two began to bicker like little kids over a toy.

* * *

 _ **HotStuffRepairs**_ _started chat with_ _ **ThunderandLightning**_ _at 11:41_

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jaaaaaaayson

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo, it's 12 AM

 **HotStuffRepairs:** actually

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its 11:46

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so no its not 12 am

 **ThunderandLightning:** Thanks for the lesson on time Leo.

 **ThunderandLightning:** I'm sure I'll need it in the future.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hell yeah you do

 **ThunderandLightning:** So what did you need at *11:49* at night?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** 11:50*

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what did i need

 **ThunderandLightning:** Leo.

 **ThunderandLightning:** You know some people have important things to do at this hour.

 **ThunderandLightning:** For example, me. I need to sleep.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i couldnt sleep, okay?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** please stay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i just wanted to talk to someone

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and you were the first person i could think off

 **ThunderandLightning:** Fine.

 **ThunderandLightning:** How could I resist, when you make such a fruitful attempt at punctuation? Three question marks must be important.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jeez dont get used to it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i like my sentences unrestricted from the cruel restraints of english punctuation

 **ThunderandLightning** : Of course.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Was there anything you wanted to talk about in particular or…?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** nah

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hey wait question

 **ThunderandLightning:** Shoot.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what the heck happened between you and mitchell

 **ThunderandLightning:** Oh, yeah.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Him.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** youre fighting a kid jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** youre going to lose this battle

 **HotStuffRepairs:** this pointless battle that makes no sense

 **ThunderandLightning:** Hey, I can't help it if some kid wants to take you away from me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** aww your protective of your little lion cub

 **HotStuffRepairs:** get it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** leo means lion

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ha im a riot

 **ThunderandLightning:**...I get it. Unfortunately.

 **ThunderandLightning:** Anyway, I wanted to keep him away from you. Simple as that.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why dont you want me near him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i mean we both know he has a crush on me but hes still a kid

 **ThunderandLightning:** What? You're my best friend.

 **ThunderandLightning:** …..

 **HotStuffRepairs:** …..

 **ThunderandLightning:** …..

 **HotStuffRepairs:** best friend huh

 **ThunderandLightning:** …..Yeah.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** your my best friend too

 **ThunderandLightning:** …..

 **HotStuffRepairs:** …..

 **ThunderandLightning:** …..

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** have you seen that video game that came out on friday

 **HotStuffRepairs:** the graphics looked great

 **ThunderandLightning:** Yeah, duh. How could I not see it?

* * *

Leo nearly fell asleep in French. _Nearly_.

"Leo." Juniper whispered, tapping his shoulder.

Leo bolted up, blinking. "Wha?"

Hazel giggled, and Frank rolled his eyes with a small smile. "You fell asleep."

"I did?" Leo rubbed his eyes with his fists

Frank grunted. "Almost. Not quite, though."

"Are you okay? Did you sleep well?" Hazel asked, concerned.

Leo blinked, and groaned into his hands. "Yeah. Just fell asleep late." He waved them off.

Truth was, he didn't sleep at all. His head was still trying to wrap around what Jason said last night. _Anyway, I wanted to keep him away from you. Simple as that._ , was what Jason had said.

But that was the problem. It _wasn't_ as simple as that. For some reason, Leo's mind couldn't comprehend any motives Jason had. Was it _really_ about the friendship jealousy?

Leo understood Mitchell. The thirteen year old was surprisingly simple, contrary to the moody stereotype he was held to as being a teenager. The kid knew what he wanted, and made sure everyone else knew it. Easy as that, and Leo respected him for that. But _Jason_? Hell, as close as Leo liked to say he was to the blond, he couldn't understand him.

Not that he needed to, there were many _other_ pleasing traits that Jason has…

Frank snapped in front of Leo's face. "You in there, Valdez?"

"You had this far away look on your face." Juniper said quietly.

"Psh," Leo leaned back in his chair. "I'm totally cool, now. Tired, just tired."

"If you say so." Hazel said with uncertainty. Her eyes flicked to the board filled with French sentences. "You shouldn't lean back that or else you might-"

Leo crashed in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "What the-"

"- _fall._ " Hazel giggled, and extended a hand.

* * *

Gym was relatively pleasing.

When it came to gym lockers in the locker room, Jason's locker and Leo's locker were nowhere near each other (which Leo grew to be thankful for). Leo knew of his less than muscular body, and didn't necessarily want to compare it nearly everyday to Jason's. He was satisfied with staying in his corner, thankful the lockers were organized by last names.

Every now and then, after Leo finished changing out of his gym clothes, he would have to wait by Jason for him to finish. Jason was freaking _slow_ when it came to changing, and his locker was usually jammed. Which meant Leo had to sit there trying to open Jason's locker for him, then wait for the other.

In the beginning of the year, Leo didn't mind and would talk about random things like, _dude, did you see when that asshole, Octavian, got nailed in the head by the jump rope_. But, as of recently, things have gotten… weirder?

Leo didn't know what it was. He chose not to say anything about it, and he banished his thoughts to the back of his mind whenever he had to wait for the blond.

"What do you think is for lunch?" Leo asked, opening Jason's locker.

"Thanks," Jason said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I wouldn't know. Besides, I bring in my own lunch."

Ah, yes. Leo now remembered, Jason _does_ bring in his own lunch. It was cheaper that way, and Leo and Piper always shared food with him anyway. Personally, Leo liked buying lunch. As of now, he actually _had_ money to buy it, rather than steal it from unsuspecting foster parents. And besides, his school had amazing pizza slices, and cookies.

"I hope it's pizza. It'll be good to get some pizza into my belly." Leo rubbed his stomach. "Imagine having a food baby. Except because of _pizza_. A pizza baby."

Jason shrugged off his shirt. "That'll be unhealthy. Not that you have anything to worry about with your metabolism."

"Uh huh," Leo mumbled, averting his eyes. Yeah, this was always the hard part.

Jason. No shirt. Sweaty. Out of breath.

Yeah, this was always the hard part. Sometimes Leo likes to think of lunch. Or he thinks of the old southern grannies at the supermarket who always pinched his cheeks and always told him things like ' _Young man you betta' go to college! Or go in th' war. Betsy we ain't in a war, are we?'._ The Southern Grannies always made him uncomfortable, and was also the reason why Leo hated going to the store on Friday afternoons.

Nevertheless, no matter Leo's attempts to get rid of the thoughts in his head, there was always that _one._ It changed ever time, and it always managed to slither through his mental blocks and penetrate into his mind.

Today's winning thought was " _damn, he has really nice abs wow_ ". The crowd laughs and applauds, as Leo spins the Wheel of Fortune- wheel of _Jason_ \- once again. What does it land on? It lands on the $1 million spot making Leo grin and-

"Leo?" Jason waved a hand in front of Leo's face. "You still in there?"

Leo shoved the hand away, as his face grew hot. Did he just zone out _twice_ in one day, thinking about the same person. But no, this time was worse. This time, he was _staring_ at said person while having a conversation with them.

"Hmm," Leo hummed, officially turning his body away from Jason's general direction just to be safe. "What were we talking about?"

Jason frowned and pulled a shirt over his head. "I actually don't remember."

"Well, hurry up man. I'm hungry, and you're slower than a snail."

Jason snorted. "Snailson."

" _Snailson_ ," Leo gasped, horrified. "Did you just Jason to _Snailson_? That was terrible."

Jason shrugged but a grin grew on his face. Jason had nice teeth, all straight and white like a supermodel. "Well, I thought it was okay."

"Of course _you_ did." Leo rolled his eyes, but couldn't deny the smile on his face.

* * *

 **BeautyQueen:** Yo Leo

 **HotStuffRepairs:** piper wtf

 **HotStuffRepairs:** arent you in class

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why are you talking to me if youre in class

 **BeautyQueen:** Why did you respond, if you knew I was in class

 **HotStuffRepairs:** touche

 **BeautyQueen:** Arent you in class

 **HotStuffRepairs:** nah

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i was standing at the urinal

 **HotStuffRepairs:** pants down penis ready

 **HotStuffRepairs:** when suddenly

 **HotStuffRepairs:** my phone vibrates

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i wipe my hands

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and check and guess who it is

 **HotStuffRepairs:** this douche mcshizzle

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i didnt even get to pee damn you

 **BeautyQueen** : Thanks so much for that story, I know this will definitely help me answer this test

 **HotStuffRepairs** : what the heck

 **HotStuffRepairs** : put down this phone and go do that test

 **HotStuffRepairs** : youre bringing dishonor to mclean family name

 **BeautyQueen:** Whatever. Just can you answer these

 **BeautyQueen:** Jason probably doesnt cheat on spanish tests

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait jasons there

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ask him how snailson is

 **BeautyQueen:**?

 **BeautyQueen:** He said, and I quote: Better than ever Mr. Snaildez?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** pfft thats hilarious

 **HotStuffRepairs:** this kid is on a roll

 **BeautyQueen:**?

 **BeautyQueen:** Whats wrong with you guys

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hahahaha what is wrong with you how do you not find this the epitome of hilarity

 **BeautyQueen:** Wow, okay then, Leo using big words now

 **BeautyQueen:** Well, Im going to hand in my test now

 **HotStuffRepairs:** hahaha snaildez thats a great one

 **BeautyQueen:** Okay, goodbye you weirdo

 **HotStuffRepairs:** heh bye

* * *

Leo tapped his pen against the stack of papers.

"What the heck are we even doing?" Leo frowned, staring at the blurry lines of writing.

Piper stared at him. "We're helping out your dad? With his grading? Because he went to pick up your papa?"

Leo stared back. "Oh yeah. That's what we're doing. I could've sworn we were staring at abstract art."

"First graders aren't always the best writers." Piper shrugged.

"I can't read this one." Jason squinted at one of the papers.

Leo stood up from the kitchen table. "Maybe you're going blind. Oh man, you're growing old. Don't grow a beard before I do, dude."

"Can you pass me a water?" Piper asked absentmindedly, as Leo opened the fridge.

Leo frowned, poking around the fridge. "Where the heck is my fruit punch?"

"I'm not going blind." Jason muttered to himself, as he stared at the paper in front of him.

"You're still on that?" Piper asked, looking up from her stack of papers. "Do you have a headache or something?"

"Something." Jason sighed, and rubbed at his eyes, "Can we switch? I'm better at math anyway, and you're better at reading terrible handwriting."

Piper nodded, switching the piles. "Have you _seen_ Drew's writing? It's like staring into the face of crap, yet somehow _understanding_ it."

"There it goes." Leo muttered. "Behind the fifty million bottles of water. Thanks Papa." Nico was always trying to fit healthy things into the family's food, but it never actually works.

Jason and Piper continued talking to each other, leaning onto other topics.

"Yeah, Mitchell said the movie was great, and he had a lot of fun. He was sort of bragging, and Lacey was _pissed_ because she had to get her braces tightened that day. She said she wants you to take her out next." Piper said, as Leo approached the table with drinks.

Jason laughed nervously. "I don't know…"

"Yo, Pipes if you pay for the popcorn then I'd take her out." Leo offered. He actually did like Lacey… even though her counterpart was a total dweeb.

"Done." Piper accepted. She made a face. "Next week is Thanksgiving, so I won't be in the state. I'm going to have to fly to LA on Tuesday. So in two weeks, you can take her out."

"Why are you going to LA?" Jason asked, marking something on a paper.

Piper rolled her eyes, but Leo could tell she was probably having a dance party inside. "I get to see my dad."

Every Thanksgiving and every other Christmas (sometimes even a rare summer), all of Piper's siblings went to see their fathers. It became a tradition, that Leo had come to known. Leo also knew how desperately Piper wants to see her father all the time. Not that Leo mind, hell, if he knew his father, he would want to see him too. Or maybe even his mother.

Jason nodded, and Leo wondered where his father was. Or his mother, for the matter. They've talked about it before, but never in depth, and never face to face. Leo never felt the need to bring it up, because Jason seemed happy with just being with his sister in their tiny apartment.

The front door unlocked, and in walked a somewhat damp Percy.

"Fucking hell it's raining." Percy swore as he closed the door behind Nico, who rolled his eyes.

"The news reports did say it would." Nico closed his umbrella, and slid off his coat.

Leo's Papa went upstairs, as Leo's Dad went into the kitchen to find a menu.

"Damn, I am _not_ eating anything _besides_ a pizza right now." He murmured, whirling around when he realized there was three other people in the room. "You like extra cheese, Jason?"

"Yes, sir."

Percy fumbled with the menu, and left the room in search of a phone. "Damn right he called me sir, everyone should call me sir, what a great kid." Percy muttered to himself.

Leo sighed, and collapsed in his chair. "I'm way too tired to be checking little kids work."

"Yeah, me too." Jason agreed, and stretched out.

Piper shifted in her seat. "I can use a break. I need to pee, anyway."

Leo waited until Piper left the room, to turn to Jason.

"Yo." Leo said.

Jason perked up his head. "Yeah?"

What was it Leo had wanted to talk to him about? It was something about family, right?

"Uh," Leo swallowed. "What are you doing for the holidays?"

"Oh." Jason sounded disappointed. "Nothing really. Me and Thals can't really cook anything big, and we don't have any relatives to visit." Jason shrugged, not seeming too worried.

"You can spend it with us. Invite your sister over with us for dinner." Percy poked his head into the kitchen.

"Dad, stop being noisy-"

"Really? I don't mean to intrude on anything." Jason said unsure, but seemed kind of happy about the offer.

Percy pulled his head out. "Doesn't bother me. We usually end up having tons of leftovers anyway."

Leo rolled his eyes. Parent's were just so noisy sometimes. Especially Percy.

Jason turned to Leo. "Guess I'm staying with you."

Leo made a noise at the back of his throat. Was he supposed to be excited, or disappointed? Leo didn't want to intrude on any of Jason and Thalia's personal time together, but then again this meant Leo had Jason to himself for a few more hours in a week.

"I hope you're ready to meet my family. Let see, we have Uncle Tyson, uh, he's the one wearing sunglasses. Whatever you do," Leo warned carefully. "Do _not_ take them off. His vision got screwed up in the womb, and he was born as borderline autistic. He's really cool though. I think he has a girlfriend."

Jason nodded. "Anyone else?"

"Hmm, I'm guessing Aunt Bianca might come. She's a little strict, but she'll warm up to you," Leo squished his face up in thought. "Uh, I don't think Uncle Triton even likes us, so he might not be an option, neither would Uncle Thanthos. _Oh_ , wait."

"What?"

Leo made a face. "Ms. Chase would be there, definitely. I think she has a son, Malcolm? Yeah, they'll be there. _Abuelita_ would be there, you know Sally since you work for her. And I think Papa's father and his wife would be there too."

Jason recalled the names in his head. "Alright, that doesn't seem too bad. Guess I'll meet them. Do you need us to bring in any food?"

"Nah," Leo stood up, and moved the papers on the table around. "Dude, help me out."

"Yeah, sorry." Jason apologized, sheepishly. He made a move to put the papers together.

Except he barreled right into Leo.

Of course, Leo fell. He always falls, but this time he managed to bring the klutzy Jason down with him.

"Ohmygod," Leo gasped out. "You're elbow is in my gut."

"Sorry," Jason apologized, sitting up on Leo's legs. Leo tried to squirm from under him, but failed. "You okay?" Jason squinted at him.

"Are _you_ okay?" Leo balanced on his elbows to stare at Jason. The kitchen tile was cold under your arms. "You're seriously having vision problems."

Jason sighed and rolled off Leo's legs. "I'm fine, I've been having these for a while."

"Seriously?" Leo sat up on the floor. Jason had a nice face, or was that weird to think about?

"Seriously," Jason started to laugh. "I'm surprised you didn't see when I nearly ran into your house that day you fell from that ladder."

Leo's cheeks tinged pink. Sure he remembered that day, how could he possibly forget? How could he forget when he was falling through the air, and was grabbed by Jason's arms and was being held like freaking Lois Lane?

"Maybe you need glasses," Leo shrugged off, directing his eyes to Jason's face rather than staring at his arms. His nice, muscular, tanned arms-

"Probably." Jason said. He stood up, and offered a hand to Leo, who accepted it. Leo was pulled up (all though it felt like a _jerk_ rather than a pull, because Jason overestimated Leo's weight)

"Whoa," Leo regained his balance and dusted off his body.

Jason laughed half embarrassed. Leo hardly noticed their hands still touching, because it felt so freaking _right_.

"So, uh, hi?" Leo mentally slapped himself . _Hi?_ Wow, it was amazing he still held any dignity after all these years, if _that's_ what he can come up with.

"Hi." Jason says, and it sounds breathy- and it _did_ _things to Leo_. Leo shuddered.

"Guys! Guess what!" Piper came running down the stairs, and Leo back-stepped from Jason faster than lightning.

"What?" Leo tried not to groan out loud. Damn, Piper got in the way. But in the way of _what_? Something that made Leo's heart want to go in cardiac arrest. Did Leo really want this?

"There's news going around that a new girl coming to our school after break. She's a transfer student. She's seriously pretty." Piper laughed, and winked at Leo.

"Great. More sexy ladies to start macking on the Leo." Leo tried to ignore how strained his voice sounded and glanced at Jason.

Jason smiled (and was that a dimple Leo saw? How come he never noticed that before?). "That's great, Piper."

Piper beamed. "Hell yeah. And we're the perfect welcoming committee." Her voice went low. "Besides, with all this sexual tension here, a girl needs someone to talk to."

Jason flushed red, sputtering stuff that didn't make sense. Leo turned red too, and pummeled his fists into Piper's sides. Piper laughed hysterically as Leo shouted repeatedly: " _I'm not gay!"_

* * *

Later, Leo found himself in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His thoughts were filled with lip scars, blue eyes and blond hair, and grinning.

He tried screaming into his pillow, but nothing worked. He tried thinking about _boobs_ , and surprisingly enough _that didn't work_. When a man can not get distracted by boobs, there was definitely a problem.

Leo groaned. If he wasn't already damned to hell, he most definitely was now.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh god piper i think youre right

 **BeautyQueen:** Arent I usually?

 **BeautyQueen:** What am I right about, just to be clear

 **BeautyQueen:** Because you literally gave me no background information here

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i think im gay


	13. It's the principle, Jason

**HotStuffRepairs:** listen piper we need to have a serious talk about this

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i wasnt a homosexual

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but now im not sure

 **HotStuffRepairs:** help me bestfriend

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ugh its so confusing

 **BeautyQueen:** What

 **BeautyQueen:** Speak to me your words of wisdom son and explain

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im not sure how to say this

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but remember all those times you called me gay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and i always denied it and said i liked girls

 **HotStuffRepairs:** well uh

 **BeautyQueen:** …

 **BeautyQueen:** Are you actually coming out to me?

 **BeautyQueen:** Its cool if you are, just take your time

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what no way

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im not coming out

 **HotStuffRepairs:** psssh who gave you that idea

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what crazy ideas you got there pipes

 **HotStuffRepairs:**...

 **BeautyQueen:** …

 **HotstuffRepairs:** …

 **BeautyQueen:** Coming out is hard, its cool

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im not coming out

 **HotStuffRepairs:** or at least i dont think i am

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and what do you know about coming out

 **BeautyQueen:** I had to help Mitchell

 **BeautyQueen:** Its a lot harder for him

 **BeautyQueen:** He had to come out younger, you know?

 **BeautyQueen:** And he wasnt sure how to do it, how to break it to us

 **BeautyQueen:** All our family does is break up with our boyfriends

 **BeautyQueen:** Keyword is boyfriends

 **BeautyQueen:** Or maybe it was because he felt it was harder living with a bunch of girls who had no idea what we are doing so this would just stick him out even more

 **BeautyQueen:** I mean, none of us really had a dad role model, because it was always just child support checks with male names on them

 **BeautyQueen:** Silena was always the closest to a role model and she was still in highschool at the time

 **BeautyQueen:** Drew was pretty heavy set on boys boys boys

 **BeautyQueen:** Girls liking boys, boys liking girls seemed socially correct in the media

 **BeautyQueen:** So somewhere along the line Mitchell thought it was wrong

 **BeautyQueen:** Im not really sure where, but he did

 **BeautyQueen:** But you have it easier

 **BeautyQueen:** You have role models

 **BeautyQueen:** And your parents are so beyond gay they are practically soulmates

 **BeautyQueen:** Coming out isnt so hard for you

 **BeautyQueen:** You just have denial problems

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wow piper

 **HotStuffRepairs:** thanks

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but im not totally gay

 **HotStuffRepairs:** at least i dont think i am

 **BeautyQueen:** Sigh.

 **BeautyQueen:** Do you like anyone right now

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im not sure how i feel about him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i dont want to like him but

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its so confusing and stupid

 **HotStuffRepairs:** this whole thing is stupid

 **BeautyQueen:** Him?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** yeah i think so

 **BeautyQueen:** …

 **BeautyQueen:** What part of that isnt homosexual crushing

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay shut up

 **HotStuffrepairs:** i dont know how to feel about him

 **BeautyQueen:** Well, describe him

 **HotstuffRepairs:** he has really nice hair

 **HotStuffRepairs:** its like liquid gold and i like looking at it and its so soft

 **HotStuffRepairs:** scratch that i like looking at him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jasons eyes are just so blue and so wow

 **HotStuffRepairs:** his face is so great to look at i just want to bite it

 **HotstuffRepairs:** okay ignore that last part but you know what i mean

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jasons seriously too pure for this world like how did this amazing god get here and why was i placed with him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and hes really strong

 **HotStuffRepairs:** he can lift me up thats pretty cool

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and i like cuddling with him hes warm and i like listening to his heartbeat its really nice

 **HotStuffRepairs:** he tells really bad jokes like theyre so bad theyre funny plus he laughs at my jokes

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jasons also really smart and just amazing and hes just so wow

 **HotstuffRepairs:** its hard describing him because hes too great for this world

 **HotStuffRepairs:** like a robot who got all the fiiiiiiine parts if you know what i mean

 **HotStuffRepairs:** and by fine i mean fiiiiiiiiiine

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i think thats it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** for now at least

 **BeautyQueen:** …

 **BeautyQueen:** Leo

 **BeautyQueen:** Youre so deep in

 **BeautyQueen:** Im not sure whether or not to say the L-word

 **BeautyQueen:** But you so deep in

 **HotStuffRepairs:** …

 **HotStuffRepairs:**...i know

 **BeautyQueen:** You should tell Jason that you like him ASAP

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what

 **HotStuffRepairs:** where did jason come from

 **HotStuffRepairs:** are you psychic

 **HotStuffRepairs:** like that girl in mean girls who told the weather with her boobs

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but you dont have boobs so im not sure how that works out

 **BeautyQueen:** Im going to ignore that last comment on my boobs because I am the bigger person

 **HotStuffRepairs:** not when it comes to boob size

 **BeautyQueen:** Thanks Leo. Really feeling the love here

 **HotStuffRepairs:** theres nothing to feel on your chest

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay okay im done continue back to our hot friend jason

 **BeautyQueen:** Anyway, it was pretty obvious it was Jason

 **BeautyQueen:** Besides, you did say his name

 **BeautyQueen:** A few times actually

 **BeautyQueen:** I mean, everything about that rant screamed gay for Jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** okay okay okay i get it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** so im gay for one of my best friends and youre telling me to tell him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** are you high

 **HotStuffRepairs:** why would i ever do that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** whats wrong with you

 **BeautyQueen:** Did I ever tell you what happened on our date?

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wait what

 **HotStuffRepairs:** i dont remember us going on a date

 **HotStuffRepairs:** when did my date with flat chest piper happen

 **HotStuffRepairs:** did you drug me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** this could count as rape you jerk

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im telling my daddy that you raped me, and he will beat you up

 **BeautyQueen:** I hope by daddy, you mean one of your fathers, not Jason

 **HotStuffRepairs:** im not answering that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wink wink

 **BeautyQueen:** Oh My God Leo. Wow. Uh, just. Wow.

 **BeautyQueen:** Anyway, when I said OUR DATE

 **BeautyQueen:** By our, I mean Jason and I

 **HotStuffRepairs:** oh yeah

 **HotStuffRepairs:** that did happen a while back

 **HotStuffRepairs:** see when you put it like that

 **HotStuffRepairs:** it starts to make more sense

 **HotStuffRepairs:** but no you never told me

 **HotStuffRepairs:** neither has jason either

 **HotStuffRepairs:** not in detail anyway

 **HotstuffRepairs:** why what happened

 **BeautyQueen:** I'll tell you. Be prepared for an onslaught of huge blocks of texts

 **HotStuffRepairs:** always prepared

 **HotStuffRepairs:** tell me what happened

 **BeautyQueen:** At first it was really great. Silena dropped me off at the aquarium, and Jason was there looking...good. We walked around for a while, and it was pretty fun. It got awkward when I reached out to hold his hand.

 **HotStuffRepairs:** wow piper

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what did you do spit on your hand

 **BeautyQueen:** Shut up. Anyway, after that happened, the rest of the time was extremely awkward, I guess. After the aquarium, I asked him

 **HotStuffRepairs:** what

 **HotStuffRepairs:** ugggggggggggggggh

 **HotStuffRepairs:** jfc your phone died didn't it

 **HotStuffRepairs:** uuuuuuuuugggh i hate you so very much

* * *

Leo didn't get to talk to Piper for the rest of the week. Piper was sick right before the holidays, staying home. On Tuesday, she left to go to LA to see her father.

Leo spent his time with Jason carefully. Jason time was fun when it lasted, but after he left, Leo had to deal with the annoying tidal wave of _Jason thoughts._ It was like his head just couldn't wrap around the concept of blond hair and blue eyes.

But here was Leo now, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, rushing to make sure seating arrangements were perfect.

Seating arrangements had to be perfect, or else the entire event would be a mess. For example, when Leo was ten, he accidentally placed his Dad next to Nico's father. Not exactly the right combination. But now he had Jason and Thalia to add to the list.

Leo frowned. There wouldn't be enough seats. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

Join the dreaded _kiddie table_.

The kiddie table was usually occupied by Malcolm, Ms. Chase's son, Uncle Thanatos when he gets into his salty moods, and maybe sometimes Uncle Tyson who enjoyed playing with Malcolm. Earlier on in Leo's adoption, he was sitting at the kiddie table. But now, he is a strong teenager, happy to sit at the ADULT table.

Unfortunately, not this year. He would have to sit there, to make space for Thalia. Maybe if he switched things around, he could get Jason to sit with him.

Muhahaha, Leo's just _so_ bad sometimes.

Percy looked over his shoulder at the chart Leo was making. "You're sitting at the baby table?"

"Jeez Dad, it's called the _kiddie_ table not the baby table." Leo rolled his eyes.

"Well, _excuse me_ ," Percy raised his hands in surrender. "Don't hurt me with your crayons and Lego's."

Leo couldn't really respond, because they both know Leo still has a box of Lego's in the back of his closet, that he occasionally still plays with.

Leo frowned. "Hey, you think it's okay to make Ms. Chase and Papa sit near each other?"

"Annie and Nico?" Percy shrugged. "Sure."

Sometimes Leo's dad could be extremely dense. Sitting your current husband with your tactical ex? Not the smartest move. But Ms. Chase _does_ have a kid and a girlfriend, so she's moved on.

"I'm exhausted." Percy whined, pushing his forehead against the back of Leo's head. His voice sounded muffled, as he circled his arms around Leo's neck. "Make me _coffeeeee_."

" _Nooooo."_

" _Yesssss._ "

"Ugh," Leo grunted. Percy grinned into Leo's hair, triumphantly. He always got what he wanted in the end.

* * *

Jason and Thalia were the first ones to come. They had thanked Leo's parents a million times, and brought in a pie. It was blueberry, making Percy wipe away a tear and practically adopt them into the family.

Jason looked nice. _Really_ nice. Blue button down that complemented his eyes, with some black jeans that fit snugly.

Leo simply had some t-shirt (the one with the Taco on it) and some plaid shirt over it. His red sneakers were still covered with Sharpie drawings of nuts and bolts, and his shoelaces were untied. The usual, really.

Leo elbowed Jason. "I can't believe you actually came."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Jason shrugged. He looked longingly towards the kitchen, where Thalia was talking to Leo's dads. "Thalia misses these kinds of things."

"What? Thanksgiving?" Leo made a face, and dragged Jason by the elbow to the direction of his bedroom. "How do you normally spend it?"

Jason waited until they were in the safe confines of Leo's room to speak again. "I don't know, with just me and Thalia? Mother's not here, and Father is _somewhere_ else."

Leo frowned. "That doesn't seems too great. Where's your dad?"

" _Somewhere_." Jason stuck his hands into his pockets. "It's cool though, it's better with just me and Thals."

Leo leaned forward, surprising both of them with a hug. "That sucks you, big lug."

"Yeah," Jason clears his throat, patting Leo's back. "It kind of does."

He pulled away, giving Leo a strange look. "I think I hear some people downstairs."

* * *

Downstairs was Ms. Chase, who looked only mildly surprised to see Jason there.

She raised a blond eyebrow at Leo. "Boyfriend? I'm surprised you had it in yourself Leo."

" _What?_ " Leo's eyes widened, taking a step away from Jason. His cheeks tinged with red. " _No_."

Ms. Chase gave them both a look, and shrugged, as if they had no interest to her. Maybe they didn't, Leo had no clue.

Trailing behind her was tiny little Malcolm, only at the age of six, and Ms. Chase's girlfriend, Reyna. Reyna was kind of strict, and is the Spanish teacher at Leo's high school. Piper says she's actually really nice, and likes giving out candy at the end. Leo didn't believe that, but he _does_ believe in the rumors that Reyna was in the army and probably was the President of Russia for a million years.

Malcolm ran into the room, with a foam airplane in hand, making whirring noises.

Reyna gave both Leo and Jason a soft smile, and left the door open for Aunt Bianca.

Aunt Bianca had a million boxes in her hands, and rushed into the room, barking something in Italian. She tended to bring presents for every occasion. Following her, was Nico's father, who looked as stunning as always in a suit. Sometimes Leo believed that his grandfather literally lived his entire life in suits.

The brisk November air slammed the front door. Leo winced at the sound, and glanced at Jason, who looked a little _too_ uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room.

"Hey, you okay?" Leo asked, putting his hand comfortingly, on Jason's arm.

Jason frowned slightly, "It's just _a lot of people here_."

Malcolm ran past them screaming his head off with childish glee.

"You get used to it after a while," Leo said, sitting down on the couch. " _Ha_ , I remember when it was just me and my own mom. This was super weird, when those two adopted me."

"I can't imagine how Christmas might be." Jason mused.

Leo blinked, giving Jason an odd look. "Jason, I'm Jewish."

"What?" Jason looked embarrassed. "Oh my Gosh, I'm _so_ sorry, Leo, I should've known-"

"Kidding." Leo giggled. He was going to pretend he didn't giggle, and instead pretended he gave a manly chuckle. "We're not religious. Sometimes we go to church on Christmas Eve, and Easter though. It's weird, with the whole _gay_ thing and all."

"Oh," Jason said. "So you still go to church?"

" _Yeaah_ ," Leo snorted. "Only because it doesn't seem disrespectful, even though a good 70% of them are rude to us. Papa was grown Catholic, I guess."

"Oh," Jason said.

"Yeah." Leo finished, looking around. Uncle Tyson and his girlfriend, Ella, had just walked in, along with Uncle Thanatos and Triton, surprisingly. Uncle Thanatos and Uncle Triton, were literally the two uncles who every family tries to pretend doesn't exist, and don't talk about.

Leo's _abuelita_ , Sally, rolled right in just in time, with her arms filled with food. She was usually the reason why they often had so much leftovers.

Leo gestured around the home, bustling with people. "This is it, I guess."

" _Wheeeeeeee!"_ Malcolm ran, climbing onto the couch. Jason scooted over, as the six-year old stumbled into decorative pillows.

"Exciting," Jason commented, turning back to Leo, who shrugged, and stood up.

"Fucking hell, Malcolm you're getting to heavy for Uncle Leo to pick you up." Leo muttered, picking up the child in his arms. Okay, _barely_ picking the child up. Malcolm giggled and tossed his head back as if he heard the funniest joke in the world.

Malcolm was weird. He never talked, just _giggled_ , and it was the weirdest thing to Leo. But the kid is like a freaking genius, knowing his 12 times tables in first grade. Shit, all Leo could do when he was in first grade was pee in his pants. It must be because of Ms. Chase. She probably gives him steroids. Steroids for the _mind_.

Jason took the child from Leo lightly. "I got him."

Leo blinked. Ok then. Jason with a child, looking super father-y and paternal. This is a thing now. Leo definitely accepts this.

Leo pulled Jason into the dining room, the room that the family never actually used unless for special occasions. "Hello, family."

Percy gave a nod in their direction. "This is Leo's boyfriend, Jason. Jason, this is family."

" _Oh my God, Dad, you can't just say stuff like that._ " Leo rushed out, pummeling tiny fists into his side.

"We're not boyfriends." Jason announced to the room, and put down Malcolm -who giggled and started running again.

"But the connection was just _so_ obvious," Uncle Triton said dryly, and elbowed Uncle Thanatos. Yeah, those two can be total jerks. Personally, Leo thinks they're made for each other.

"Whatever," Leo rolled his eyes, and glanced around the table.

Nico seemed preoccupied, along with his father, _Abuelita_ , and Reyna with putting out dishes of food on the tables. Ms. Chase was currently occupied with talking to Percy, and making sure Malcolm didn't run into a wall. Uncle Thanatos and Uncle Triton were doing _who knows what_ with a bottle of beer, and Aunt Bianca was having a heated chat with Thalia -something about _feminism_. Uncle Tyson and his girlfriend, were staring longingly at the radio in the corner of the dining room, hoping to put on some music.

And then there was Jason. Awkward Jason, who looked so confused, it actually made Leo's heart throb with sympathy. Leo pushed Jason into the kitchen, against the counter (he was going to try _very hard_ to ignore his father's whistle).

"You and me," Leo started off, poking his index finger into Jason's chest. "Are going to have a very good dinner sitting at the kitchen table with a six-year old, and some rejected Uncles, and _you_ are not going to ruin it with your cuteness."

" _What?_ " Jason blinked.

"I _said_ ," Leo said. "You're not going to ruin it with your _confusion_. This is my weird-ass family, and you're about to become apart of it."

Nice save, Leo. He gave himself a mental pat on the back. He deserved a freaking Nobel Peace Prize for it. _And_ he added a little hint about Jason joining the family. Leo _did_ hear on the news, something about gay marriage being legal-

"It's not confusion," Jason laughed. "It's just surprise. While your family is a lot to take in, it's nice. Nothing can ruin this."

"Wait till they bring out the alcohol." Leo deadpanned. He pulled on Jason's hand to lead them out back to the dining table. "Come on, they're about to say _Grace._ "

Jason followed Leo to the circle his family was making around the table.

"Just go with it." Leo mouthed, as they joined the circle.

Nico began to speak. "We would like to thank that everyone, even the unpleasant few", No one missed the look he gave those two certain uncles, "for coming, and we can hope we will survive another year. Amen."

"That's it?" Jason asked, grabbing a plate.

Leo shrugged. "What did I tell you, we're not religious."

"I don't think blessing food has anything to do with religion anymore."

" _Gosh_ ," Leo shoved Jason. "It's the _principle_ , that we are all great Catholic family filled with good Bible-loving Southerners, who love embroidery, and going to straight people weddings."

Jason snorted. "We're not even in the South. And I think you offended every Catholic family in the South who loves embroidery, and going to weddings."

"It's the _principle_ ," Leo rolled his eyes. "Gosh, Jason, sometimes I think _you're_ the straight bible-loving Southerner who loves crying at weddings and knitting." _Whoa- is that ham?_ Leo is always down for some ham.

"Knitting and Embroidery are two different things," Jason continued, following Leo back towards the kitchen. "And I'm not a straight bible-loving Southerner who cries at weddings and knitting."

"Wait what?" Leo whirled around. Did Jason say he wasn't straight? That was literally the only part that Leo heard.

"Uh, yeah," Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm-"

Then the doorbell rang.

Leo frowned. The doorbell shouldn't be ringing, because everyone was there. Percy's yell, of ' _I got it!_ ' sounded through the house.

"What were you saying?" Leo asked, turning back to Jason, who was leaning into the fridge.

"Oh, uh," Jason's cheeks were pink, turning into a rosier red by the second. "I was saying how I'm-"

The sound of something shattering alerted Leo's attention, and he bolted in the direction of the noise. He found himself at the front door, staring at his Dad, who had dropped a plate on the floor. Percy, however, was staring at the entrance, his hand bleeding from trying to pick up some of the shards of the plate.

At the door, was a burly man, riddled with scars and tattoos. In his hand was a tiny piece of paper, crumbling in his gigantic fingers. He looked confused and angry at the same time, until his eyes laid on Leo.

"Leo?" He asked, with a hopeful look into his eyes.

Leo stared at the man with confusion, as he tried to help Percy with his trembling hands.

Percy shuddered when Leo touched his hands, and jerked away. "Aiden?"

Leo frowned. _Aiden_? Leo knew the name was familiar, just not from where-

Then it clicked. He _had_ known an Aiden, an Aiden that was pretty damn important to his life. It was in Leo's own file. A certain _Aiden 'Hephaestus' Schmidt_ , next to the name _Esperanza Valdez._

Leo's eyes widened, as he walked closer to the door.

"Dad?" Leo's voice came out in a small whisper.

The man's eyes widened. "Leo, I've been-"

Leo slammed the door.

* * *

 **Notes: I kind of recommend skimming to the ending of chapter 9, for why his name is Aiden Schmidt.**

 **-So freaking exhausted. My feelings and emotions (not to mention, grades) have been practically everywhere and it's the most depressing thing. I feel like a complete and useless bag of crap. This weird ass depression is not helping any part of my life, not in my educational, artistic, musical, or social. I'm trying really hard to get past it, but it's getting relatively harder too.**

 **-In other news, actually related to this story, updates might be a little more spanned out, or random. This one came now, only because I was reminded by the lovely The God of Animals, so thank them. I've completely forgotten to update this when originally planned, and I even failed on my make up date to update this. Crap, super sorry. **

**-I'm probably am going to edit the crap out of this sooner or later _._ Also, I have other things that I've been working on, so hopefully I might be able to get to work on those and publish that. Even if I do upload some other stuff, I will try to keep this one my main priority. Thank you, to those who were willing to read through all of this. I really do appreciate the loads of follows/favorites/reviews!**

 *** Did we reach 50 reviews? I think we're about to. Horray! And I think we also reached 50,000 words? Horray!**


	14. LOOK AT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS

***whimpers* don't hurt me**

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Nico was the one who opened the door again. He had given a look at Leo and Percy, wondering what the heck was wrong with them.

"I'm so sorry, sir." Nico opened the door wide enough for the man on the other side to see both Percy and Leo at Nico's side. His eyes narrowed on Leo.

"May I come in?"

Percy was the first one to react, gently pushing on the door. "No thank you, _goodbye._ "

Nico stuck his foot in the doorway. "Come in. Leo, can you take his coat?"

Leo didn't move. A hand covered his own, and Leo turned to see Jason giving him a reassuring smile. Jason probably had no clue what was going on- neither did Leo really- but bless his soul for holding Leo's hand. Jason had nice hands.

"What are you doing here?" Percy said, with an accusatory tone, as the buff man took a step inside. He uncurled his hand.

"I was looking for Leo." Aiden hesitated. "No, I _have_ been looking for Leo. And now I found him."

Leo's body froze. His father- _no_ , this _man_ \- had been looking for him? After all these years of Leo not knowing who his father remotely was, there he was.

"It's Thanksgiving." The man continued, when no one else said anything. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo could see Ms. Chase sweeping the plate up. "A time for family."

"But you're not…" Leo faltered. What could he say, that this man _wasn't_ his father? Percy seemed to know him by name, and it fit right in with Leo's files. It fit right in with that empty silhouette in Leo's mind, one strictly reserved for his father.

Aiden's eyes locked with Leo's, before looking him over. "My boy-"

"Don't." Percy stepped forward. "Don't say that, Aiden."

"Hephaestus." He corrected. "I go by that now."

"Hephaestus?" Leo muttered, bringing the attention back to him. Hephaestus took a step forward- causing Percy to move closer to Leo too.

Hephaestus eyes Percy warily, before bringing out his palm, the one with a crumbled paper inside. "I have something for you. Leo, I mean."

Jason's hand gave a small squeeze, as Leo gingerly took the parchment. It was a rather heavy envelope, one that had a childish drawing on it. There was a tiny picture of a potato with hair scribbled in red crayon. The letters P-A-P-I were written sloppily, and the p's were backwards in crude toddler handwriting. The address in it's corner was completely foreign to Leo, one that was addressed somewhere in Massachusetts.

"It's an envelope," Leo said, peeling the flap open. It was easy to open, meaning it was previously opened before.

"It was from your mother." Hephaestus confessed, glancing between the neutral face of Nico, to the pissed off one of Percy. "I suggest reading it in… _other_ company-"

Whatever else he was going to say Leo didn't hear, because he was already running up the stairs to his room. Jason trailed after him, closing the bedroom door behind him.

"Leo?" Jason said, concerned as Leo sat on his bed. "Are you sure you want to open it? He did say it was from your mother."

"Yeah," Leo emptied the contents of the envelope on his bed. "At least I think I do."

There wasn't much inside of it, just a letter and a few pictures. Something glinted in Leo's vision, and he cautiously wrapped his hand around it. A golden cross, curious enough.

Jason was pacing across the room, giving curious glances toward Leo, and it was making the Latino a lot more nervous. Leo picked up the letter, and he recognized the curvy and neat handwriting his mother wrote in.

 _Dear Aiden,_ Leo winced. Maybe he wasn't as ready as he thought he was.

"Can you read this? Outloud?" Leo held up the paper, and Jason reluctantly took it.

"Are you sure?" Jason said, still pacing, as he scanned the document.

"Yeah," Leo frowned. There was a picture of a tiny three-year old Leo among the jumble of photographs. He had been holding a giant foam block, while in the lap of his mother. Esperanza had been smiling at the camera, while Leo had been staring wide eyed at the block in shock, while trying to eat it. Wow, Leo was such a weird kid. But his mother was still beautiful.

Jason cleared his throat. " _Dear Aiden. How is your schooling? I hear Massachusetts looks beautiful this time of year. Do you plan on taking your son there one day, you_ pendejo _?_ " Jason paused. "What does _pendejo_ mean?"

"Uh," Leo blinked. "Don't say that, it's rude." His mother was now to blame for Leo's vocabulary.

Jason gave a jittery laugh before continuing. " _Leo turned three a few weeks ago. We both were expecting a visit, and he's been speaking a lot. Of course, you know this, because you taught him his first word. Which nearly got me in trouble with the babysitter and a few customers. They're all wondering why Leo keeps saying,_ ¡chinga!, _when giggling._ ¡Gracias, idiota!" Jason paused.

"Don't worry about it." Leo bit his lip. "Just don't say it to anyone who speaks Spanish, okay?"

" _I am a little disappointed in you._ " Jason continued. " _You have a son here in Houston, and you're across the_ EEUU _. You're supposed to be here, not in college getting a degree. I had to quit high school to have this baby, and you're in MIT on scholarship?_ Chinga tu-"

"Skip that." Leo interrupted, growing a little red. Okay, maybe his mother probably wasn't the _most_ filtered woman, but then again, from what it seems like, Hephaestus had left her with nothing. "Just ignore that."

" _I do miss you,_ mi amo _. I wish you the best with that stupid engineering degree. Get us some money, will you? I miss you, Leo misses you, and I think Rosa might even miss you. Okay, maybe not, but we do. Send a letter, you know?"_ Jason's voice cracked a little, but neither really cared.

Leo stared at the other pictures. There was one with three people. He recognized his mother and who he assumed was himself as a tiny little baby. The other person was foreign to Leo, yet there was a tiny tugging in the back of his mind. Was this his dad when he was younger?

Esperanza was a teenager when she had Leo. Her last year of high school if Leo could remember correctly. His dad was probably a senior too, but unlike Leo's mother, he finished high school and went on to college- _freaking MIT_.

Hephaestus was pretty skinny and tall, and he dressed like a wannabe badass. Leo sort of hoped that maybe Leo would get that height. There were a few bruises on his face, ones that looked nasty and might even be permanent, but he looked fairly happy.

" _Papa says he forgives you by now, but he's not going to forgive that you're not here. I told him not worry because I'm sure you're coming back. Or else-"_ Jason paused and looked over at Leo for a brief second. " _Anyway, just come back soon. Love, Espie and Leo."_

Leo frowned. One of the pictures was of a house, one he had never seen before. Flipping to the back, in smudged pen was ' _The new house_ '. In another picture, there was a family. A _family_ , and one of those members was his father. A strong looking girl with her brown hair tied back with a red hairband. A boy with his body in a wheelchair. A tiny toddler who looked to be playing with a toy motorcycle. They looked happy, a lot happier than Leo wanted to accept.

Jason was standing over Leo, when he looked up.

"He- he has a _family_ ," Leo scowled at the picture. He clenched his hand, and winced at the sharp pain. Opening it, Leo realized the golden cross was digging into his hand. "How- _why_ does he have a family?"

Jason sighed, and sat on the bed in front of Leo. "You can ask him later."

"But I want to know _now_. I barely even knew I had a father, why is he here now?" Leo's nails dug into his palms. Hephaestus was just so… _frustrating_.

Leo didn't understand anything anymore. He just wanted to go home, and be with his mother again, in that tiny apartment or in that tiny workshop, where everything made sense.

"Hey," Jason was studying the picture of the family. "Did you read the back?"

"No. What is it?" Leo snatched the photo back, running his fingers against the ink. " _Come live with your family, Leo_."

Leo blinked. _What?_

* * *

Leo didn't come down from his room for the rest of the dinner. Jason stayed with him, loyal as ever, and brought up their plates of food. No one came to check up on him, which Leo couldn't tell was a blessing or very depressing. He figured maybe one of his dads- adoptive dads- warned everyone.

"Thalia said I could sleep over," Jason said, closing the door behind him. "Are you okay?"

Leo was fine. Or at least he thought he was. Nothing really _happened_ to him. He didn't learn any juicy secret, or something that his ancestors kept hidden for years. Just some more stuff about his parents.

Jason took his silence as a bad omen. "It's going to be alright. I'm sure he has a reason for it all."

There was knock on the door. Then the door simply opened, without either teenagers saying a word. Hephaestus popped his head in the doorway.

"Can I talk to you?" He eyed Jason. " _Privately_."

"Uh, I don't think Leo would-"

"Sure," Leo interrupted Jason. "Why not."

Jason shot him a look, but took his leave at the door. Hephaestus replaced him, with a sheepish look.

"Listen kid-"

"What happened?" Leo interrupted again. He stared at the door behind his father instead of the actual man. "Explain everything that happened."

Hephaestus sighed. "It's a long story."

"I have time."

The older man, cautiously walked closer to Leo, before sitting on the bed next to him. "You know how you screw up? And you have to live with guilt for the rest of your life?"

Leo grunted. "You screwed up with my mom. Does that make you guilty?"

"Kid, it's not like that. When you're eighteen with a baby on the way, you make bad choices." Hephaestus rubbed a hand against his face. "You're young and you're stupid."

"Well," Leo folded his legs up on the bed. "I have time. Explain the entire story."

Hephaestus glanced at the envelope that had been left discarded on the corner of the bed. "Alright. I guess I owe you that much."

And he told Leo. He told Leo everything.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **uhhhhhh haha they were just curse words that i don't feel like explaining. mostly the f-word. i think i used asshole once *shrug***

. - **Is how you say USA in Spanish (well the abbreviated version) It stands for _Estados Unidos_ which translates as United States. But I'm sure you're asking why is there two e's and two u's. To be honest there's just some stupid rule for nations that makes it plural? It's very stupid I've learn to live with it...**

A/N: **gaaaaah, i don't know why it took so long to update damn it. i felt really guilty, and the guilt hit me a million times. This chapter was less romance and more plot... I left it as a confusing chapter on purpose LOL. Next chapter literally explains everything that happened when Leo was a baby and it's going to answer A LOT of questions. Like why did Leo's father really leave? Who are those people on the picture? What was the cross all about?**

 **Hopefully I update sooner? I'm not sure, I have a lot I'm working on... Anyway, kudo's to those who were patient with me. I swear I have reasons for not updating [although none of them seem worthy enough to be listed] but I guess I did now? With a confusing chapter?**

 **[i can't believe i named this chapter after one of the lyrics to a song by a band i don't even like. what's the name of their band? DimeFront? PennyBackwards? whatever it is** (it's nickelback), **it's stupid hahahaha]**


	15. Esperanza and Hephaestus and fetus Leo

**haha 69 reviews is that a suggestion for what leo and jason should do or am i reading the atmosphere wrong**

* * *

Esperanza Valdez definitely did not expect her life to go the way it did. Especially as she was in her bathroom, staring at that pregnancy test.

" _Dios Mio_ ," Rosa was never much of an approving older sister, but she rubbed Esperanza's back. "It was him, wasn't it?"

" _Shut up_ ," Esperanza cursed, and rubbed her stomach. It was hard to believe that she would have an _actual human being_ inside of her.

Rosa sniffed. "You need to tell the father."

"Who, Hephaestus? No." Esperanza threw the stick in the trash, disgusted with it. "Imagine what _Papa_ would say."

Rosa frowned, and sat on the bathroom sink. "You should buy another test. Just to make sure."

"I _did_." Esperanza buried her face in her hands. "That was the third one."

"Sorry."

* * *

The next monday, Esperanza was so worried with her stomach showing (although it had only been about a month since she had sex), that she wore a giant sweatshirt.

Aiden, or Hephaestus, laughed when he saw her.

"Hey," He pecked her cheek with a tiny laugh. "What's up with the new outfit? Isn't ait little too hot for that?"

Esperanza had to giggle. "It's January, love."

"Whatever." Hephaestus was wearing ripped skinny jeans and a leather jacket. Esperanza had always told him he didn't have to dress cool to impress her, but he always insisted it was a _must_.

Hephaestus glanced towards the school building, and bit into his sandwich. He swallowed, and grinned. "I got you something. Close your eyes."

"It better not be another screwdriver." Esperanza closed her eyes. Last time he had gotten her a screwdriver (which she was delighted with), but then he had said _I got it, because I want to screw you_ in ill humor. Both of them had laughed, but now thinking about it…

A cool metal rested against Esperanza's neck, and she opened her eyes. There was a tiny golden cross fitting nicely with her tanned skin. "Oh my."

"Do you like it?" Hephaestus asked nervously, wringing his hands together. Esperanza held his calloused hands, and kissed him.

"I love it."

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. It was when Esperanza felt the digging of the cross in her History class, when she remembered about the baby.

* * *

Rosa looked annoyed when Esperanza came home.

"You didn't tell him?" She said bitterly, applying peanut butter to pickles aggressively.

"No," Esperanza ran a hand through her hair. "What are you making?"

"Gross food," Rosa stuck up her nose. "You'll end up eating them with cravings and stuff. Because you're pregnant."

Esperanza ignored her for the rest of the week, wondering when Rosa would move out already.

* * *

"You should tell someone," Esperanza bit her lip, as she pressed the cloth towards her boyfriend's jaw.

Hephaestus hissed. "No way. No one needs to know."

"But he's _hurting_ you." Esperanza stressed, rubbing more alcohol along his face. Another hissing noise.

Hephaestus focused on putting covering a cut on his leg. "Father will control himself sooner or later. Don't worry babe, I'm fine. Besides-"

" _Yeah, yeah_ , you're saving up for college to get away," Esperanza rolled her eyes, knowing the story. Her mind flickered to the impending person inside of her. "About that-"

"Ouch." Esperanza had hardly noticed she was pressing against against a particularly sore area.

"Sorry." She removed her hand, dropping the cloth. Hephaestus raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? I'm going to be okay, don't worry about me." He grabbed her hands, and she yanked them away, not looking at him.

He stood up, and hugged her. "Don't worry. High school is going to end, and we can be free and get married and have kids and-"

"I'm pregnant." Was what Esperanza wanted to say. Instead, she blinked and said, "Married?"

"Mhm," Hephaestus nuzzled her neck lovingly. "We'll be happy, I promise."

"Oh," Esperanza was pleasantly surprised. "That sounds nice."

"You bet it'll be."

Everything was going to be fine, Esperanza told herself. Just fine.

* * *

Esperanza's father was definitely angry. He had always been an angry and moody man, ever since Esperanza's mother had passed away when she was little. He had hardly been around after that, but when he was, he was angry.

Right now, was hardly an exception.

"What do you mean you're _pregnant_?" He had yelled, grabbing her wrist.

Esperanza was too shocked to understand what he had said, having just walked through the door after coming home from school. Her wrist had been pulled on so fast, she didn't even have time to take off her school bag.

" _Papa_ , that _hurts!_ " She yelped, as he dragged her to the bathroom.

He pushed her on the toilet, a little harsher than what she would've appreciated. "Well?"

"Well, _what?"_ Esperanza spat out, rubbing her wrist.

He tapped his foot impatiently. "Show me?"

"Show you _what_?"

"The test."

Esperanza had to dig through the garbage to find the pregnancy tests from a week ago. He examined all three with a skeptical eye.

"Who is it?"

"Who is _what?_ " Esperanza said with an exasperated tone. She looked past her father, to see Rosa peeking into the bathroom. Rosa must've had told him.

"It better not be that _Hephaestus_ punk." Her father clenched his fist.

Esperanza twitched, and it was enough for her father to catch and he growled. "That little _punk-"_

" _Papa!"_ She grabbed his arm before he could storm off to beat up her boyfriend. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't hurt him."

"He knocked you up." Esperanza's father snarled, snatching his hand away. "He sure fucking knows how to hurt someone else."

He turned away before Esperanza could say much more. Esperanza sobbed, sitting on the toilet. Her father had never really liked Hephaestus ever since the two met. He always claimed Hephaestus would be trouble for Esperanza and then _this_ happened. Esperanza felt anger boil as she heard her sister's footstep cautiously approach, and the sound of the front door slamming.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

 _SMACK!_

In all her life, Esperanza had always felt the _urge_ to hit her sister, but never had actually _done_ it. In all her life, Esperanza had also never heard her sister ever stand quietly.

Rosa whimpered, with her hand on her cheek.

"Oh _fuck_ ," Esperanza held her hand close to her chest, crying louder. She was stuck, not knowing what to do. She had hit her sister, and her father was on his way to practically _kill_ her father. Esperanza felt sick to her stomach- " _Fuck._ "

She slid off the toilet, yanking the cover up to empty her guts out. The smell made her even more sicker, and she ended up dry heaving through choked sobs.

There was a comforting hand on her back, that made her even more sicker.

* * *

Hephaestus avoided her for a week. He had a few more bruises than normal, and a black eye that looked like it might stay for a _very_ long time.

Whenever Esperanza had returned from school for next few weeks, she was welcomed to an empty house. Rosa had been avoiding her, and it was only five days into isolation, that Esperanza had learned that Rosa had gotten a job.

It seemed that the only one to comfort her in her loneliness, was her unborn child. And even that wasn't too comforting.

* * *

Esperanza's dresses and nice clothing had to be sold and had been replaced by comfortable sweaters and sweatpants. She had found no reason to dress well enough to impress anyone.

Hephaestus had accepted the child, thankfully.

"It'll be okay," he reassured her, with a hand on her stomach. He paused. "Wait, so there's a baby in there?"

"Yeah." Esperanza wiped at her teary eyes. " _Our_ baby."

"Hmm," Hephaestus rubbed her stomach for a few moments. "I hope it doesn't look like me. It'll be ugly as hell then."

Esperanza laughed, and hit him lightly. "Me too. I _really_ hope it doesn't look like you."

He stuck out his tongue, and Esperanza leaned forward to kiss him.

* * *

Hephaestus had gotten into MIT, just like how he imagined.

Esperanza, herself, had applied and hadn't gotten in. She had gotten into a few others, but couldn't accept it. She had responsibilities to fulfil now.

Hephaestus had promised to visit every moment he could, but some part of Esperanza knew it might not work out.

Yet, she still hoped.

* * *

"Shit," Esperanza mumbled, fisting her hair.

Rosa looked up from the laundry. She had made it her mission to help Esperanza out until the baby was a few months old, and Esperanza could handle it herself. "What's wrong?"

Esperanza groaned, and pushed her papers across the table. "Finals."

Rosa folded a shirt. "Don't stress out. It's not good for the-"

" _The baby,_ yeah, I know." Esperanza said, annoyed. Everything had been increasingly harder as the weeks passed by. She had been questioning why she had even had sex in the first place. Did she even want the baby anyway-

" _Hey._ " Rosa interrupted her thoughts. "You're thinking about it again."

"It's hard not to think about it," Esperanza said crossly, "when there's a big weight in front of you at all times."

Rosa bit her lip. " _Espie_. You need to relax. You're going to be fine."

"I wish," Esperanza crossed her arms, as she pulled her papers back to her. "That Hephaestus was the one pregnant instead of me."

Rosa chuckled.

* * *

Graduation was… interesting.

She had thrown her hat with the rest of her class, but it was weird having a huge baby bump in front of her the entire ceremony. She had gotten felt kicks, the entire time.

"Little Jose is just celebrating with us." Hephaestus kissed her, being wary of the seven-month baby inside of her. Hephaestus had been coming up with names (ones that Esperanza had booed) ever since he had learn the gender of the child. A boy.

"Can he celebrate in a different way?" Esperanza gasped, feeling another jolt. "Jeez, this kid is seriously hyper."

Hephaestus makes a face like he's sorry, but the grin describes otherwise. "ADHD runs in my family." Hephaestus had been looking pretty good for the past few months. From what he's told her, his father had been arrested a while ago. Slowly, hsi bruises were fading and he became a lot more extroverted than normal.

Esperanza didn't mind the change.

"Well, he might kill me at this point," Esperanza tugged on her graduation robes. She could see Rosa trying to approach like a worrying mom, with a camera in hand. When Rosa had a camera, she took _many_ pictures.

"Then I would be sad," Hephaestus smiled, holding her hand. Esperanza rolled her eyes when she noticed his sneakers poking out from under his robes.

"You better be."

* * *

" _Holyfuckingshit,"_ Esperanza breathed out. " _I'm never having sex again_."

She screamed at the pain of her bottom half. Rosa squeezed her hand, and brushed the sweaty hair from Esperanza's face. "Just breathe-"

She had been erupted by another one of Esperanza's ear-piercing screams.

"Where the _heck_ is that bastard father," Esperanza gasped, pushing at a nurses request.

"He's coming-"

" _OHMYGOD-"_

* * *

"Am I late?" Hephaestus burst through the hospital doors, and Esperanza looked up from her baby.

"Yes." Esperanza deadpanned. "I had to name Rosa as the father. A freaking shame, really."

"Oh." Hephaestus leaned over her shoulder. Both of them knew it was a joke."He has your eyes."

"Hmph," Esperanza wiggled a finger over the baby, and he grabbed her finger. He was a lot more excited than anyone had expecting, and Esperanza had laughed when the nurse passed the wiggling baby. "He has your nose."

"I think I have a cute nose." Hephaestus said. "What's his name?"

"Didn't name him," Esperanza mumbled. She watched as the tiny child closed his eyes, calming down to a sleepy state. "The nurse is coming soon."

"That's cool. I have a few names. Can I?" Esperanza didn't want to, but reluctantly handed the child over. It was worth it to see Hephaestus' face light up. "How about Jake?"

"Nah. Jake Valdez?"

Hephaestus blinked. "He won't take my last name?"

"No," Esperanza said slowly. "He'll take mine. It's better that way. Mine sounds cooler."

"That's bad reasoning." Hephaestus made a face. "Harley?"

"Nah."

"Leo? Or I guess Leonardo."

Esperanza paused. "That's better, I guess…"

"Oh, is that the name?" Both of their heads swung to the door, where a nurse was scribbling on a slipboard. "Leonardo Valdez? Sounds nice."

"What?" Esperanza said in stupor. She hadn't been expecting the name to be recorded. She guessed the name wasn't too bad. It could've been _worse_ , like actually naming him _Hephaestus._

"So what now?" Hephaestus said, as Leo was taken away for extra examinations.

Esperanza sighed, and leaned back in her hospital bed. "I'm tired. Come, sleep here with me."

"Really?" Hephaestus raised an eyebrow, but slid into the bed, holding Esperanza's hand.

It was a little too late, because Esperanza was already asleep, dreaming about having her little family in a big house living a happy life together. It was going to be perfect.

* * *

 **what the heck do you mean i havent updated in more than a month, stop lying i update every week whaaaaat**

 **(okay but i was in a hospital for like a week leave me alone)**

 **A/N: This will have a part two? After Leo's birth haha. I feel so ashamed of myself, fitting nine months into just barely 2,200 words gosh, look at the potential amazing moments i skipped over... hmm. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to have another chapter in sooner than a month (not that this came in after more than a month, whaaaaat who said that?)**

 *****anywho pretty much assume that whenever rosa and esperanza (JFC I CANT SPELL HER NAME) talk, they are speaking in spanish**

 ******it bothers me that this might potentially be the only chapter with out that lil shit leo in it (i mean, lovely person leo) so enjoy i guess**

 *****oh god, ignore that line at the tome about 69ing hahaha**


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